Icicles and Ants

Sometimes things just don’t make sense.  Take for instance the effects of a long snowy winter season.  Our house was loaded with icicles.  The neighbors’ homes were icicle free.  We’re not quite sure of the reason, but my husband was panicking at the sight of these lethal weapons hanging from our roof  line.  After searching the internet, he discovered that it cost one homeowner $25,000 to repair icicle damage to his home.  Human size icicles resembling cave-ish stalectites growing in the corners of your roof are not the norm.  But…my grandkids loved them.  In fact, they’ve stored some of the smaller replicas in our freezer.  Go figure.  Kids always have a way of turning human disasters into play.  Maybe there’s a message there for us adults.

But to make matters even more confusing, along with the icicles, we’ve had an unusual invasion of ants in our kitchen.  It’s winter.  Ants belong in picnics on the grass and in the residue of sugary lemonade on the counter.  My ants don’t like sugar or picnics.  They like warm houses.  I thought ants hibernated.  Guess not.  My biggest battle with ants has always been in the winter.  Sometimes it takes three or four professional applications before we get them under control.  But the ants always return.  Go figure.  Unlike the icicles, my grandkids don’t like ants.  In fact, our four-year old grandson is extremely fearful of the tiny creatures.  Not only is he aware of a good friend who’s allergic to them, but he had his own bout with ants last summer.  He was bitten by them while playing in the yard and still remembers the painful itch they caused.  In his estimation, all ants are bad.  I tend to agree.  So we didn’t mention that Grandma’s kitchen was invaded with ants, and he never asked why the stuff that belonged inside cabinets was displayed on tables and counters like a flea market.  Maybe that’s another message for us adults.

Icicles and ants don’t belong in the same sentence.  They just don’t go together.  Unless you live at our house.

This got me to thinking about the unusual things in life that don’t make sense, things that just don’t go together.  It’s like algebra.  A + B = C.  Or does it?  Winter Icicles + Summer Ants = Makes No Sense!

The prophet, Habakkuk, boldly asked the Lord why evil seemed to go on unpunished and unchecked by a just and holy God.  Those two things don’t seem to go together either.  I love the Lord’s answer, “Though it linger, wait for it…the righteous will live by faith.”

For some reason God wants our trust in those seasons when nothing make sense…when icicles and ants plague our homes.  He loves our declarations of faith when the bottom falls out.  When there seems to be no reason to believe, that’s the time to take a stand.  Be intentional in your declarations of faith no matter what your circumstances.  I know it’s not easy but it sure is worthwhile. 

Proverbs 28:14 says, Blessed is the one who fears the Lord at all times regardless of their circumstances.  

My verse for 2010 comes from Luke 1:45, “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.” 

Some of those things still linger in time as I wait for their fulfillment.  But I’m learning to declare my trust even when things don’t make sense.  Jesus said, Let not your hearts be troubled but trust in God and trust also in Me.  The icicles have now melted and the ants have migrated for the time being to another source of warmth.  But I hear God saying to me through my silly confusing circumstances:  trust in Me no matter what.