Ants at the Picnic

It’s perfect. The weather is calm and pleasant, humidity low, and the sky is full of high, puffy clouds. The burgers are gourmet, the rolls soft, the tomatoes bright red, and everyone is relaxing in the shade. The kids are laughing, playing happily nearby on the swings and slide.

No one ever has been to that picnic. That picnic doesn’t exist, and never existed anywhere but our imagination. But for some reason when we planned it, that’s the way we saw it and just knew it would be.

But that was before Minnie discovered the anthill just under the table, and before the burgers were burned to a crisp because Max the grill master had left to break up a fight over who was next to swing. That was before the wind blew the napkins into the baked beans and the thunder, lightning, and rain began. Everyone’s been to that picnic.

The amazing thing isn’t the ants, rain, or quarreling children. The amazing thing is how dejected we are, when we should be used to this by now. Why do these normal, quite common occurrences catch us off guard? Why do such things steal our joy and devastate us?

Everyone processes disappointment differently, of course, but it’s hardest when we begin our day believing we are entitled to the perfect picnic rather than thanking God we have food and people with whom to enjoy it. When we assume that our plans should work out because they are, well, OUR plans. When we act as if we are somehow in control.

We can sermonize and moralize over how we ought to accept joyfully whatever comes and always be cheerful in the face of adversity. But it might be better just to admit that our self is selfish and we often want God to bless our plans more than we want to be in His.

Rather than thinking of it as “a bad day,” maybe we can agree that, for whatever reason, God had different and better plans for us. Maybe the farmer’s field next to the park needed water more than we needed a perfect picnic. Maybe the children needed to learn sharing.

We do have the promise that all things are working together for our good, and the assurance that He cares for us. And who knows, maybe we were there to learn something from the ants. Proverbs 6:6-8

“Father, we thank you for helping us plan our day and then arranging it the way you choose. Help us to want nothing but your will and to remember that this is your world, and we are just passing through. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”


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