The Ants and the Stove

Four things are among the smallest on the earth, and yet are exceedingly wise: Ants – a species not strong, yet they store up their food in the summer.  Proverbs 30:24-25
  
As I was washing dishes one night last week I noticed some little ants crawling across my kitchen floor.  That isn’t usually something to sing about but for some rather odd reason I watched them a minute and burst into a rousing chorus of “The ants go marching two by two!” (I think I need to go back to school and hang out with my little lovelies where it seems normal to sing silly songs!) Anyway, after I finished singing and washing the dishes, I investigated and discovered the ants seemed to be coming and going from a kingdom they had established under my stove.  Not good!  So, I did what any woman who doesn’t want to look under the stove would do…I sprayed some Raid right under the stove and tried to forget the whole unfortunate thing.  The next morning I walked into the kitchen to turn on the coffee pot and I discovered the little guys had invited their friends.  I didn’t know what was going on under my stove but it seemed to be all the rave among the ants in Clinton County because I was pretty sure they had all come!

There was only one solution…pull out the stove and investigate!  Now I’m
 gonna be honest, cleaning under the stove isn’t something I do on a scheduled basis.  I’m sure my mother did, but not this girl, so I was a wee bit apprehensive about what I might discover under there.  As luck would have
it, it was a Saturday so my handsome husband was home to help me yank out the appliance.  What happened next was ugly!  There were dust bunnies…no they were more like dust elephants, a pencil, and a few other assorted small things that couldn’t be accurately identified. Then I saw it…among the dusty rubble I discovered the main attraction; run-away blueberries!  It seems there must have been some sort of catastrophe that occurred during the making of a fruit salad earlier in the week.  Before I could catch the whole exciting story from the teenagers in the house, I became fascinated by the behavior of the ants. I was amazed at the precision and teamwork of my little un-invited guests. Everything about their
work was orderly and calculated.  If you’ve never watched ants at work, it’s fascinating but I would recommend putting down a small bit of food OUTSIDE to see the show rather than inside your home! 

The day after the ant event, I was thinking about writing about the little guys and decided to see what Scripture had to say about ants and imagine my surprise when I came across this verse from Proverbs. I witnessed right there under my stove what this verse points out.  They live outside, they come in, find the food under my stove, assemble themselves to remove and store the tasty treat, all in the correct season; summer!  So, do things happen randomly?  I don’t think so! I think God is that “in charge” and if He designed an itsy bitsy ant to be wise enough to tackle such a task, what does that say about the way He designed us?  Give that a little thought today!

Then came the scrubbing!  I kept wondering what my mother would have thought if she could see under my stove and I felt this urge to scrub fast as lightning before anyone rang the doorbell and wanted to come in for coffee.  I didn’t want anyone to see what I’d been hiding under that large kitchen appliance and then it hit me…I do the same thing with my sinfulness and my flaws.  I want to keep them hidden, pretending they aren’t there.  As long as I can keep them hidden under a few good deeds and a big smile I can pretend they don’t exist…just like keeping the stove in its spot concealed the mess. Truth is, the mess is still there even if it isn’t visible and it just builds until we confront it.  I decided the first thing I was going to do after the clean-up was finished was take some time to acknowledge my sinfulness and ask forgiveness.  I even made a list and wrote it all
down…talk about facing the mess!  The clean-up I left to the Father that loves me…and already knew what it looked like before I started.  Just
as soon as we pushed the stove back in place, Dave looked at me and lovingly said, “Hey, since we’re at it, let’s pull out the refrigerator and clean under that too!”  God loves to make us humble doesn’t He!

A Seed To Plant:  Go outside with some bread crumbs and find an ant hill.  Lay down the crumbs and as you watch the wonder of that whole process unfold, ask God’s forgiveness for your sins one by one as you watch the ants carry away the crumbs.

Blessings on your day!