Oops there goes another rubber tree plant . . .

 Have you ever had one of those days when you think your life is small and has little or no meaning?  Ever feel like what you are doing doesn't make any difference to anyone?  Ever think that what you are facing is too big for you to handle?

Then grab your Bible and look up

Proverbs 6:6  Go to the ant, O lazy person. Watch and think about her ways, and be wise.

Considering the ant has helped me turn my wrong thinking right, so I want to share some facts about ants that you are welcome to fact check. 

“In many ways, ants can outwit, outlast, and outplay humans. Their complex, cooperative societies enable them to survive and thrive in conditions that would challenge the individual. Here are some fascinating facts about ants that just might convince you they're superior to us.”

1. Ants are capable of carrying objects 50 times their own body weight with their mandibles.  Ants use their diminutive size to their advantage. Relative to their size, their muscles are thicker than those of larger animals or even humans. This ratio enables them to produce more force and carry larger objects. If we had muscles in the proportions of ants, we'd be able to heave a Hyundai over our heads!  The real strength of an ant, or any insect for that matter, lies in its diminutive size. Generally speaking, the smaller the critter, the stronger it will be. It's physics, plain and simple.  The tiny ant has a strength advantage because of the ratio of surface area to volume.  An ant need only lift a small measure of its own weight relative to the strength.

Matthew 19:26  Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

2. Soldier ants use their heads to plug the entrances to their nests and keep intruders from gaining access.

In certain ant species, the soldier ants have modified heads, shaped to match the nest entrance. They block access to the nest by sitting just inside the entrance, with their heads facing out like a cork in a bottle. When a worker ant returns to the nest, it will touch the soldier ant's head to let the guard know it belongs to the colony.

Ezekiel 22:30 “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn't have to destroy the land, but I found no one.

3.  Acacia trees employ a complicated mutualism with ants to fend off large herbivores, like giraffes and elephants. Across the African savannah, Acacia trees offer shelter to three species of biting ants that live in their swollen thorns. The ants drink nectar from the base of the Acacia leaves. Should an elephant try to enjoy a snack on the tree's tender leaves and twigs, these highly territorial ants swarm the offender, driving the elephant away with vicious bites en masse.

Isaiah 54:17  no weapon forged against you will prevail,  and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.

4. The total biomass of all the ants on Earth is roughly equal to the total biomass of all the people on Earth.

How can this be?! Ants are so tiny, and we are so big! But scientists estimate there are at least 1.5 million ants on the planet for every human being. Over 12,000 species of ants are known to exist, on every continent except Antarctica. Most live in tropical regions. A single acre of Amazon rainforest may house 3.5 million ants.  http://insects.about.com/od/antsbeeswasps/a/10-cool-facts-about-ants.htm

2 Kings 6:16-17  He said, “Don’t worry about it—there are more on our side than on their side.”   Then Elisha prayed, “O God, open his eyes and let him see.”  The eyes of the young man were opened and he saw. A wonder! The whole mountainside full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha!

You and I may seem small and our lives insignificant, BUT the truth is that with God we can move mountains, stand in the gap, drive off the enemy, and change the world for the glory of God.  We are not alone, but are a part of a heavenly army that is unstoppable.
  

Next time your found, with your chin on the ground

There's a lot to be learned, so look around

Just what makes that little old ant

Think he’ll move that rubber tree plant

Anyone knows an ant, can’t

Move a rubber tree plant

But he's got high hopes, he's got high hopes

He’s got high apple pie, in the sky hopes

So any time your gettin low

Stead of lettin go

Just remember that ant

Oops there goes another rubber tree plant!

Cahn/VanHeusen