Wisdom from God's insects

Rev Anthony Phua

22 Mar 2008 

Parables speak to us directly as they are earthly story and have heavenly meanings. Just for illustration, we speak of Jesus as :

Bread – fill our stomach

Light – Light expose the dark areas

Door - open up

He who wins souls is wise and souls are represented by people. People however are so different one from another. As a case in point, if we were to look at fishes, they are of different characteristics and behaviors depending upon where they are:

- in deep sea

- in a pond

- beach and shore

- river

Human behavior and personality are as varied- and in doing the work of God and in reaching out to people- remember it is not one size fits all. So we need wisdom.

In Proverbs 30:24-28.

 24 "Four things on earth are small,
       yet they are extremely wise:

 25 Ants are creatures of little strength,
       yet they store up their food in the summer;

 26 coneys ^[d] are creatures of little power,
       yet they make their home in the crags;

 27 locusts have no king,
       yet they advance together in ranks;

 28 a lizard can be caught with the hand,
       yet it is found in kings' palaces.

We can learn wisdom from insects/animals as written in God’s word and as follows:

-     The ants – purpose and refocus

-     The coneys - partnership

-     The locusts - prayer

-     The Lizard - position

The Ants are very focused and purpose driven. They recognized that life is short and is focus on food. In the ministry, we cannot be drifting because the harvest is near( John 4:35). So we got to put first things first and ask God for wisdom.

The coneys (like wild rabbits) speak to us about partnership. They stay together to keep warm. Very often, by ourselves we are weak and we need one another. In Ecc 4:9-12, two is better than one. We need to join together to do God’s work. 

The locusts fly in the sky and a horde of locusts in its flight  can blanket the entire sky and cast a shadow on the ground. There is power in the air like locusts advancing. Prayer is a weapon of divine power and it can galvanise and energise, intervene and even tear down stronghold and. John 4:4. In the history of UK, Queen Victoria  was afraid of the  prayer of one John Notts of Lutheran Church and we see him move an the entire nation to their knees to call upon the mercies of God.

The Lizard speaks to us about positioning. In the biblical verse,  lizards are even found in the palace uninvited. In the story of Esther, we learn of how Esther position herself so that she can intervene concerning the decree to kill the Jews. God have place us in different positions, in different country and doing certain job. In 1st John 4: 4, we must first position ourselves and trust God.