Fleeing from his enemies, a fourteenth-century conqueror named Tamerlane hid in an abandoned building as the enemy searched for him. As he lay there, probably battle-scarred and weary, his fear turned to curiosity as he watched an ant.
The ant heaved a kernel of corn much larger than himself onto his back. He crawled up a stone wall with it, lost his footing, and tumbled down. Not deterred, the ant picked it up and again headed up the wall.
Tamerlane began to count. Twenty... forty... sixty... Still the ant picked the corn up again. Finally, after 70 attempts, the ant made it up the wall with its load.
Tamerlane was fascinated by this lesson from the ant. He knew he needed to persevere. He again gathered up an army and eventually was a mighty conqueror.
Gathering from what I have read of Tamerlane, he was a cruel and greedy conqueror. Nevertheless, we can still take to heart the lesson he learned from an ant.
Can you imagine how weary that little ant must have been? Yet he never gave up until he had accomplished what he had set out to do. Makes me tired to even think of it...
As long as we live on this earth, we will at times be loaded down with troubles and sorrows. It's a bone-weary uphill battle, but we have an Almighty Conqueror in Jesus Christ Who has conquered the load of our sin for us. Because of this and through our Savior's strength, we can keep getting up again when troubles overwhelm us. We will complete our climb and be able to stand at the top of the wall and shout, "Victory in Jesus!"
Reader, have you learned a personal lesson from one of God's creatures? Will you share it with us?
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