The Ant , The Mole Hill
During the Civil War, General Robert E. Lee had a shortage of soldiers. His army could be devastated if the Union army discovered this weakness. Since he could not increase the number of soldiers, he decided he could make his army look larger than it actually was.
He loaded troops on trains and transported them to different places. At every train station, the same Confederate soldiers were unloaded from the trains. It appeared that new troops were being transported in to be added to the Rebel army.
The Union forces became confused and afraid because they believed the South had a much larger army than they actually had. General Lee hadn't made his army any larger or more powerful. He was simply using a psychological tactic to discourage the Union army. And it worked!
Satan tries to make our problems look bigger than they really are, trying to discourage us.
Have you ever heard the expression, probably from your momma or granny or some cases with you younger folks, “You are making a mole hill out of an ant hill.” Having a scientific mind, I have asked myself over and over , what does that supposed to me.
So I did my research to find out what that meant.
So I took a look at the ant hill.
I found that many ant hills can be huge and there are some small but generally no matter where they are,
They are confined to a general area even it’s it is underground. I found this video I thought was so cool about the size of an ant hill.
(ANT HILL VIDEO)
Now a mole hill is something totally different. You have endless possibilities with moles. They will destroy and entire yard in a week or two. It is not confined to one space , moles hills are everywhere.
Now let’s contrast things in our lives:
There are things that we deal with on a daily basis we think are giant mole hills that are going to completely destroy us but really there only ant hills. What are you talking about:
1) Failure – to most people 90%, failure is considered negative. I didn’t get that job, I didn’t pass that test, I was not promoted. My dad was one of the greatest advisors on the planet. When I lost my job as a chemist, he said, that’s a blessing, I said dad how can you say that? He said, it was making you sick and I know you would never quit. My liver was failing. He’s right I would died trying to provide for my family. I failed, I lost my job or was I making a mole hill out of an ant hill. God provided.
Thomas Edison Thomas Edison's teachers said he was "too stupid to learn anything." He was fired from his first two jobs for being "non-productive." As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps."
As a young man, Abraham Lincoln went to war a captain and returned a private. Afterwards, he was a failure as a businessman. As a lawyer in Springfield, he was too impractical and temperamental to be a success. He turned to politics and was defeated in his first try for the legislature, again defeated in his first attempt to be nominated for congress, defeated in his application to be commissioner of the General Land Office, defeated in the senatorial election of 1854, defeated in his efforts for the vice-presidency in 1856, and defeated in the senatorial election of 1858. At about that time, he wrote in a letter to a friend, "I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth."
What makes a person a failure?
It is ok if you mess up, it is ok if you fail because my God never fails.
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD,
And He delights in his way.
24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the LORD upholds him with His hand.
Do you know what that means? You are not a failure.
2) Job – I know something about being in church with Pastors who lie, I know about being let go with a family at home because a company thinks you have liver cancer. I know about having babies at home and no job. I used to let my job define who I was. A job is important but it’s not a mole hill, it’s a daily annoying ant hill, but isn’t going to determine my life.
3) Guilt – People carry around unnecessary guilt all the time. I know. I have always beat myself up for not being at home for the last thanksgiving my dad was here. I can’t have It back. You carry guilt for your past. Sure whatever it is that makes you feel guilty, you need to let it go.
Maybe you have done something wrong and you cant let it go.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isa 53-5-6
4) Fear – How many people do you know that live in constant fear. Fear can be very destructive but don’t let your fears turn into something that rules your life. God didn’t give you a spirit of fear.
2 Timothy 1:7 - For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind
Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isa 41:10
5) Betrayal / Deception – In your lifetime you have prob already experienced betrayal. Maybe from a relationship (ex) , maybe your kids have hurt you or deceived you, maybe family , maybe friends. Don’t let something destroy your life, did it hurt, does it hurt , oh yeah but that is what the enemy wants.
I want to start with the big things in life. By definition the big things that cause life’s destruction are what I am referring to as the mole hills:
What the biggest things in this life that cause destruction, hurt, grief?
1) My Salvation- In the end you don’t leave this world with anything except a one way ticket to Heaven or Hell. You don’t take possessions, money, or anything else.
2) My Family Children
3) My family’s health – having them alive means everything to me. I have lost my father, my brother, my grand parents, (all to sickness but 1) , most of them cancer. I have almost lost my Son twice, my granddaughter. Having life is the most important thing.
4) My Friends – my dad said if you can fill one hand with true friends you have a lifetime of blessings. True friends endure you, put up with you but love you anyway. You cant push them away.
5) Necessities
Message also on youtube- Dr.Travis Shipley
