Impossibility specialist, He will cause nature to work in your favour

King Ahab and his godless wife Jezebel turned the Israelites into idol worship. Scripture confirms that, “Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him” (1 Kings 16:30). God has warned His people not to serve any other God apart from him. The acts of Ahab and Jezebel were known by all. “Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1). Literally, the prophet declared a famine in the land. The prophet was also affected by the same famine. The famine was not just in the house of the wicked king and his wife but even the righteous people in the land experienced it. Imagine suffering from a famine that came about because of your zeal for the Lord. 

The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. (1 Kings 17:6)

Elijah’s life was in danger because of his prophecy. 1 Kings 17: 2-4 states that the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” Elijah did as God commanded and he enjoyed the food sent by the ravens until the brook dried and the Lord directed him to a widow. The story of Elijah and the ravens teaches us about God’s provision. Sometimes, in our zeal for the Lord, we tend to go through challenges and persecution. Daniel faced a similar situation. He defied the king’s order and prayed to God and that caused him to be taken to the lions’ den. Even in the den, God sustained him and the lions who in previous times had manhandled others, had their mouths shut. The three Hebrew men (Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego) refused to bow down to an idol; their action took them to the fiery furnace. But, God defied nature by turning the fiery furnace into an air-conditioned room. They were neither harmed, nor did their clothes smell of smoke.

God is able to make the elements of nature: animals, sun, moon, stars, rain etc. to be in our favour. The sun stood still for Joshua and Israel until they won the battle with the Amorites. 
“On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!” (Joshua 10:12‭-‬14).

Whenever we are in doubt of God’s grace and provision, we remember that ravens fed Elijah, lions had their mouths shut, fiery furnance became airconditioned room and the sun stood still. Life can be full of challenges but we need to know that we are children of the impossibility Specialist. Even when there seems to be no way, He can cause creation to work in our favour. Surely,  God is good, and He will definitely provide

Small but wise: consider the hyrax

The author of Proverbs made a profound statement about learning the wisdom of animals. Creation indeed teaches about life and the lifestyle of some animals points us to important lessons in life. King Solomon, the author of most of the book of Proverbs was the wisest king that ever lived. His quest for wisdom led him to receive wisdom from God to manage the affairs of His people. Wisdom is the principal thing according to king Solomon. He also recommends that we get understanding to navigate the wisdom (Proverbs 4:7). Why will Solomon use the wisdom of animals to teach important lessons of life? God has deposited in these animals specific traits that help humans to know and understand the intricacies of life. We considered the wisdom of the ant, and identified that ants make plans for the future. Let’s consider Proverbs 30:24-28:

“Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise: Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer; hyraxes are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags; locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks; a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

Today, let’s consider the wisdom of the hyrax. Hyrax also known as coney is a small herbivore and mostly found in Africa and Arabia. Their bodies are compact, they have short tails, they are bigger than guinea pigs and share similarities with the rabbits. The hyraxes are very unique and their habitation is in the rocks. Yes, the rocks, and that account for the name rock hyraxes. Solomon says that “hyraxes are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags” (Proverbs 30:26). By size, we might consider them less powerful to make their homes in the rocks. But these little creatures have learnt to survive in the crags! They have adapted and developed their survival strategies. What can we learn from the hyrax?

The first lesson we identify is the wisdom to navigate the rocks. For most little furry mammals, it is easier to live on trees or to burrow the soil and make their homes. Survival on the rocks takes wisdom to navigate and know the best escape route as other wild animals live on the rocks as well. Second, the hyraxes live in colonies and that helps in survival. Third, they do not sow dens but find shelter in existing holes in the crags so it is difficult to encroach on them. Further, they take advantage of their feet to maintain their grip on the rocks. Life is not easy for the hyrax but they take charge of the rocks (hard place for a small mammal), live in groups (for protection and provision), locate existing opportunities (holes in the crags) and make it their own. Finally, they gain stamina (their feet) and they thrive. 

When life takes you to the rocks, remember the hyrax. You can flee from the rocks, or you take advantage and make the rocks your own to turn your story around. 

Go to the ant and consider its ways!

Several years ago, my parents used to have a farm which was far away from the house. There was no means of transportation to the farm as at that time, so the journey to the farm was made by walking on a long path, on stones, stepping on a couple of anthills accidentally and crossing a little stream. As a child, the only motivation of going to the farm was the free view of beautiful vegetation and admiring other people who were also trekking to the farm. I specifically loved the anthills along the way and the busyness of the ants who dragged their food to their castle. The teamwork, the determination and the persistence of the ants were admirable. We lived in a tropical zone and the rainfalls were torrential rains that mostly caused the little stream along the way to the farm to flood. Humans struggled to cross the stream at its flood state but the ants would be in their anthill enjoying the food they had saved for the period. What does this teach us about life? 

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. (Proverbs 6:6‭-‬8)

First, the ants are not lazy, they invest in food for the future. While the weather is good and jolly, they work to store food. No ant is left out, the team of ants or an ant colony with queen(s), workers and male ants work together to ensure a good storage. No ant is aimless or lazy. There is orderliness and that is why their population never reduces. You may spray out a bunch of them today, but they will be around tomorrow. They don’t give up. Proverbs 6:6-8 admonished the sluggard or the lazy person to do this: “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” Maybe you have accidentally stepped on and killed a couple of ants, maybe you care less about ants, maybe you hate them for taking over your home, maybe you are just not an ant person etc. Most of us are just like that, we would rather live an ant-free lives than to bother studying ants. However, we cannot miss this, the ants teach us about life.

When we understand that “a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man” (Proverbs 6:10‭-‬11), we will make some important ant-steps to prepare for the future. For example, we engage in work to be able to take care of ourselves, help others and invest into the future. Ants are economical; they don’t consume all their food at a go, they invest the rest for the future. Ants are teamwork specialists; they know how to work together to achieve a definite goal. Ants have orderliness in their colony; they have the queen(s), the workers, the male ants etc. This structure helps them to achieve their goals of saving for the future and also ensures sustainability. Ants may all look alike, but none goes unnoticed. No ant hides under the guise that all of them look the same and avoid work. The anthill is for all the ants, no ant is homeless! No ant is poor, no ant is an orphan and no ant is different. All the ants work together to store their provisions in summer and gather food in the harvest.