Photo May 28, 12 04 05 AM

It’s almost summer.  And with summers in Texas come ants.  Lots of lots of ants.  Pretty soon I expect to see little anthills popping up all over the place.

As a kid I took great pleasure in kicking those ant hills and watching the ants scurry all over the place to fix what I had destroyed. They came out of nowhere, working hard, working fast, and working together. They moved with determination, with focus, and in a motivated manner.

We can learn a thing or two from those ants.  Life can quickly and forcibly deal us a blow that appears insurmountable and impossible to repair. We can easily fall into the mindset that we are just one. One person. One woman, man, or family that has been laid bare in the wake of a tsunami — the kind of setback or series of difficulties that leave you wondering if you can even find the strength to breathe.

But the ants don’t wonder.  They rise from the depths of the destruction and keep moving.  They individually do what they can with their minuscule frames to rebuild, one speck of dirt at a time. And over time, with individual commitment and strength of community, they do it.  Those mounds keep coming back.

I know.

Over the summers as a child I saw those mounds grow even bigger then they were before the mishap I inflicted.

Let this be an encouragement for you. Let this be reassurance for me.  When hard times come, and they will, you can make it.

You can recover from financial disaster…

Your can experience the healing of your broken heart…

You can find the courage to smile again after a devastating loss…

You can know joy in the midst of physical pain…

You can learn to live above the most difficult of circumstances…

You can make it.

You can make it by putting one foot in front of the other.  You can make it through the support and love of your community or church family.  You can make it because God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in our time of trouble. (Psalm 46:1)

 “… look at an ant.
 Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two.”

Proverbs 6:6 (MSG)