He was so tiny. All six legs moved in synch as his jaws struggled to carry the beetle delicacy across the porch, down the steps, through the dense foliage of an uncut lawn, and into his ant hill where family and friends waited. He exemplified how to face a giant with grace and ability.
An ant. A tiny, red ant.
Outsized by a Giant
I wonder if he realized how outsized he was by the ugly black beetle — a mere little soldier-ant versus what must have seemed to be a gargantuan bug. Big. Ugly. And complete with those prickly legs.
Honestly, the ant didn’t seem fazed.
He just kept on keeping on with his mission, regardless of the giant clamped in his jaws.
He struggled, but he never gave up.
I wonder if he questioned his own strength when he engaged in battle with the giant beast. Did he question? Or did he simply move with the awareness that his Creator had gifted him with all he needed to conquer the foe?
I wonder.
I know how I feel when I face a giant.
Typically, I shrink with fear and anxiety, not to mention dread. Rarely do I see myself as God sees me and rarely do I face a giant courageously. I usually just want them to go away as I tearfully crawl beneath a blanket and find the fetal position of comfort.
But I’m learning.
I’m learning to view my circumstances from God’s perspective — giants and all.
Consider the ant again.
And consider me looking down on him watching as he wrangled his giant beetle. That reminds me of an image of God peering from His heavenly places, watching, overseeing my every move, ready to intervene if necessary, as I wrangle my own giants.
When I see my life through the lens of just myself, I become very small in comparison to the giants in my land. But when I compare my giants to my God, and not to myself, I realize just how big and mighty He is!
And I remember that the Holy Spirit of God is within me and that He declares, “Not by might (my own), nor by power (my own), but by My Spirit!”
The giant doesn’t stand a chance.
God has quite the reputation when it comes to battling the enemy.
He has never lost a battle.
God rarely wins them with conventional means — He enjoys confounding the wise.
Consider the Giant-Slayer When You Face a Giant
He chose 5 smooth stones and a young boy. He chose marching around the walls of Jericho and taking it down with a shout of praise. He chose trumpets and jars of clay that hid the torches taking the enemy by surprise.
And He chose a tiny ant carrying his defeated giant beetle to remind me that greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.
Are there giants in your land?
Does anxiety threaten to consume you? Is depression rendering you dysfunctional while unemployment, cancer, dementia, and prodigal children cause you to crawl beneath a blanket and find the fetal position of comfort?
I know. I get it.
But consider the ant.
And consider the giant-slayer who is with you in every. single. battle.
Selah
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Thank you so much for stopping by. I would love for you to share what’s on your heart in the comments below. Scroll a little farther down and you’ll see where you can leave your comments. Together, we can find the nearness of God in our darkest moments.
Sweet blessings to you,
Dear sis, I so love the “verily, verily I say to you”s from our God. You know, when God tells you a truth in capital letters, highlights it, underlines it… And then writes it again… Just in case hahaha. When He gives you one verse, one illustration, one experience to prove a point, and then another verse, another post, another image of Facebook, that paraphrase the very same message. We are VERY slow learners but oh He is an amazing and incredibly patient Teacher. He does not mind repeating the same point “Do not fear” in like 365 times… And they change the wording and say it again in other words.
This is what God has been sharing with me. Psalm 121. Beloved, YOU can go to bed and sleep in perfect peace because I’ve got your back and I NEVER slumber or sleep. And regarding your ugliest fear, my sweet daughter, you can rest assured that I will make something good out of you because I AM always interceding for you and I have already told you that YOU, yes, you, are My delight and no matter how ugly the image in the mirror seems to you, I AM making you beautiful every day and I AM praying that you will make it to heaven with the right dress for our wedding.
Because out of all the Giants I fear, the worst of the worst is called Damnation. And now that the Lord has impressed in me the great truth that I am His and He is mine, that He does NOT reject me, I can face this huge giant with my mustard seed of faith, look straight in his face and tell him, Shut up and get out, you liar! In the name of the Lord Jesus and Jehovah Tsvaot, you must leave me alone and never come again because the giant in me has given you notice of eviction for ever. The Son lives here now!
May we realize that we are more than conquerors.
Amen and amen! I, too, love how the Lord makes sure we get the message He has for us. He pursues us with His love. I’m thankful you have received the truth that you belong to Him and are loved with an everlasting love. His forgiveness is swift and complete. His grace is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing. Sweet blessings to you, Nan