A REAL-LIFE LESSON FROM AN ANT: Corrected Vision
A MESSAGE FROM TIM JOHNSTON, FIA DIRECTOR OF PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” – 1 Peter 5:7 (KJV)
Your faithfulness in prayer and generosity in giving are important reasons why Friends in Action impacts the lives of hundreds of thousands of indigenous people and missionaries each year. Some donors may think their contributions wane in comparison to what missionaries sacrifice. Yet, it is important to remember that God has a role for each of us to play in this Great Commission work. Our ministry would not be effective without your passion for giving and praying.
After reading this true-life story of a lady from Princeton, Minnesota, you might even say, our vision for outreach becomes “blurry” without your partnership!
In her book Keep a Quiet Heart, Elisabeth Elliot* tells a true story about a young woman named Brenda Foltz, who was rock climbing for the very first time.
As Brenda climbed halfway up a huge granite cliff, her safety rope suddenly flicked across her face and knocked out one of her contact lenses. Now, hundreds of feet off the ground, Brenda couldn’t see clearly.
She looked all around the ledge, hoping the lens had fallen nearby, but she couldn’t find it. Feeling scared and frustrated, she prayed—asking God to help her stay calm and to somehow find her contact lens.
Brenda made it safely to the top of the cliff, but the lens still hadn’t turned up, even after a friend checked her eye and clothes.
As she stood there, trying to appreciate the blurry view, a Bible verse came to her mind: “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth…” (2 Chronicles 16:9, KJV). She recognized that God knew the precise location of her contact lens.
Later, as Brenda and her group were walking back down the trail, they passed another group of climbers who were just starting up. A young woman shouted, “Hey you guys—did anyone lose a contact?”
Brenda was shocked, and rushed over. The woman pointed to an ant crawling across a rock, carrying the contact lens on its back!
When Brenda told her father what had happened, he was amazed. He was a cartoonist, and drew a picture of the ant carrying the lens with the words: “Lord, I don’t understand why You want me to drag this thing down! What use is it anyway? I don’t even know what it is, and I certainly can’t eat it and it’s so BIG and HEAVY. Oh well, if you say so, Lord, I’ll try…”
The lesson from the ant might be that when you feel a special burden to pray or to give to an FIA project or mission need, you might not even fully understand the enormous answer to prayer that God is using you to accomplish! You may only be able to guess or glimpse at the amazing purpose and the immense life-change your giving can bring. But when you give out of obedience and a desire to please God, God is ready to take that act of sacrifice and multiply it for eternal purposes!
You’re Making an Impact
Sometimes we might feel like Brenda and wonder if God hears or moves to answer our prayers. Sometimes things seem blurred, and our hearts are out of focus to see what God is doing. In our doubt or discouragement, we must remember that God wastes nothing in His economy. He is always at work building His Kingdom and rejoices in using us—in big and small ways. We have the immense privilege of joining in the process through this Great Commission work.
Remember the story of the little ant and never underestimate your importance to God’s work and FIA’s efforts. We are so grateful for you and how each of you carries an important role in these frontline Gospel efforts!
