The Wisdom of the Locust and Lizard
Last time we began to learn wisdom from even some of God’s smallest creatures in 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; coneys 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.”
We realized that like the ants we need to store up the food of God’s Word in our hearts to see us through the trials of life — not only having enough for ourselves but having enough to share with others as well. The coney taught us that it was advantageous to see things from a heavenly perspective, asking the Lord to teach us to see things from a Heavenly perspective. But have you noticed that the truths of this passage build on one another? For it is only by storing up God’s word in our heart that we CAN begin to see life from God’s point of view!
The locust is next. They “have no king, yet they advance together in ranks”. As desert locusts increase in number they go through a transformation. They stop acting as individual insects and begin to act in unison. The Bible says they don’t even have a king to direct the process, and yet they advance in ranks, ordered and united by the common objective to spread out and to possess the land!
That really speaks to me, because sometimes I think we lack unity in the church and that makes us less effective. Didn’t Jesus warn us in Mark 3:24-25 that: “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” If only we could learn from the locust and be so focused on our mission as to advance with total unity, for then, like them, we would be truly unstoppable! Working in unity is not always going to be easy. In fact, it is only possible if we’re looking at the situation with the clarity of God’s perspective and armed with a knowledge of the Word of God!
The final creature mentioned in Proverbs 30 is the lizard. “A lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces.” Like the rest, the lizard has no great power of its own. It can be caught in the hand; and yet because it provides a service in eating mosquitos, it is welcomed even in the King’s presence. Queen Esther in the Bible risked death to approach King Xerxes uninvited, but a lizard can come right up to a king’s throne!
Through no great strength of our own, we too can come into the presence of the King of Kings. Hebrews 4:16 teaches us that because of Christ we can boldly approach God’s throne of grace with confidence to find mercy and help in our time of need.
Sometimes we’re on the point of giving up because we’ve forgotten that we can come to Him. We can spend time with Him and find strength in His presence, no matter what our circumstances.
Let’s remember the wisdom of these four humble creatures. Let us be encouraged then to store up what God has said in our hearts as the ant. Let’s ask Him to teach us to see things from His point of view like the coney; to live and work in unity like the locusts, keeping our focus on our common goal and purpose. And let us be encouraged to live always in His presence like the humble lizard, for it is there that we really will find strength to persevere in all things!
May God bless you
Michele
