The Lesson Of The Ant

The Lesson Of The Ant

A biologist once was doing a study of ants. One day he watched a worker ant

carrying a piece of straw. Compared to the ant's size and weight, that straw

must have been a heavy and unwieldy load. But the ant kept working -- kept

carrying his load.

After a while the ant came to a large crack in the earth. He explored to the

left and the right, but there was no way to go around -- and the crack was too

wide and too deep to get across.

The ant stood there on the brink of the precipice as though pondering the situation. 

Then, he took the burdensome straw off his back. Stumbling, tumbling, and straining, 

somehow he managed to put one end of the straw on one side of the crack and let it fall 

across the span! Then the ant walked across the straw safely to the other side.

With a few tugs and strains, he pulled the straw across the crack, put it back

on his back... and went on his way again! He triumphed by using his burden as a

bridge to the other side.

What a lesson for us!

In this life we will have burdens. The Apostle Paul noted, For we that are in

this tabernacle do groan, being burdened (2 Corinthians 5:4). But we need not be

unduly crushed to the ground by our load if we allow the Lord and His strength

to sustain us. The psalmist cried, Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall

sustain thee (Psalm 55:22).

Jesus said, Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will

give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly

in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my

burden is light (Matthew 1 1:28-30).

Did you notice that Jesus did not say, "Come throw down your load and 

walk away with no burden at all. "He only promised to give us rest. 

Then we are to take on His yoke and pick up His burden. 

And what kind of load is it? It is a light yoke, an easy burden!

The Lord has not promised that we will not have to work in this life. There is

no guarantee that we will not face difficulties and trials. Nowhere does He tell

us that the road will not be long or the night not so dark.

Rather, He promises that where we go, He will go... and never will we be left

alone. For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Hebrews

13:5). And He also promised, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the

world (Matthew 28:20).

If Jesus is with us, and His burden is always light, why do we get so loaded

down at times? I think it is because we pick up the burdens of the past along

with tomorrow's burden and add it to the load allotted for today.

John Newton once wrote, "I compare the troubles which we have to undergo 

in the course of a year to a great bundle of fagots, far too large for us to lift. But

God does not require us to carry the whole at once. He mercifully unties the

bundle and gives us first one stick, which we are to carry today, and then

another, which we are to carry tomorrow, and so on. This we might easily manage 

if we would only take the burden appointed for us each day. But we choose 

to increase our troubles by carrying yesterday's stick over again today 

and adding tomorrow's burden to our load before we are required to carry it."

Jesus says, "Come rest. Lay down yesterday's burden, and don't lift tomorrow's

load yet. Just pick up today's burden... and it will be easy!"

And like the resourceful ant, we may discover that at times we can use our

burden to bridge the chasms in the path before us. It can literally become a

stepping-stone to higher ground.

-Dr. Rexella Van Impe

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