Ant Arrogance

In the jungle, an army of ants work diligently on their hill, building and adding to their nest. Work is what ants do best, gathering what is needed to house and feed themselves. On this particular day, nothing was different until something was. Off in the distance, the reverberation of heavily landing footsteps makes the earth gently tremor near the hill. The ants notice, lift their heads in a moment of acknowledgment. They feel the steady approach of a rather large animal. Back to work. With their unstoppable work ethic, the ants continue gathering, building, searching for and finding that which will sustain them. The heavy thudding foot landings become palpable, undeniably close. Suddenly there, within view, the culprit. An enormous elephant. Undaunted, the ants continue their work. Collect, connect, redirect, transport, establish, find, place, unearth. Then, the unanticipated happens. With one well placed foot plant, countless hours of work are for not and the ant hill is destroyed. Enraged, the ants quickly react and decide to make the elephant pay for this indecent, culpable assault. They rally, encourage one another to climb the mighty beast and attack, bring the elephant down and kill him. They climb quickly with many of them making it to the top, determined in their quest. Feeling a slight tickle, the elephant nonchalantly sways his head, back and forth, flinging the tiny ants hither, thither and yon. One ant remains, clinging desperately to his post, the elephants neck. “What shall I do?’, he shouts down for instructions from his fellow ants. The response “Strangle him, STRANGLE him”.

This little story made me laugh heartily with the ridiculousness of the mental picture of a solo assault ant attempting to strangle an elephant. A family friend told us this joke during a dinner party and it has remained with me for countless years. Yesterday, while listening to one of my favourite preachers, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, I laughed at his attitudinal quick wittedness. Stay with me here, I will make a connection. One of the most commonly heard criticisms and excuses for not believing in God is His allowance for suffering in this world. Its the old “if I were God, I would do this or that”, blah blah blah. Vernon’s question and response to those who don’t like Gods performance and feel confident enough to verbalize complaints is “What are you going to do about it?”. Dear Reader, You and I, we are the ants. I shake my head in disbelief at our arrogance. Think of the ant, searching to find food that he will eat but has not made. He looks for building materials to place on and in his shelter, finding these too, conveniently located for his retrieval and usage. None of it his, all of it borrowed from here, over there, everywhere. God as the powerful Elephant in this metaphor can place His heavy cosmic foot wherever and whenever He pleases, right on your little ant hill castle. Do you, do I, dare to arrogantly suggest that The Ruler of the Universe do anything other than exactly what He is currently doing? Are you a would be God assassin, with your turned up nose and slanderous words, challenging His might and right to do as He pleases? Little fellow ant, you are nothing and no-one without Him. Your castle is build based on His provision. Strangle Him? Not a chance!