Since the weather warmed up, ants have been the bane of my life. Our little house has a little addition that includes the master bedroom and dining area off the kitchen. Like the rest of the house, it’s on a concrete slab but you can tell it wasn’t done well. Eventually the cracks in the foundation will cause many more problems than some sloping and creaking flooring. Right now the biggest pain is the open invitation to the ants.
It seems like a never-ending problem for as soon as I cut off one entrance, they find another. It doesn’t help that Ethan drops every single thing he ever eatson the floor. So I sweep and mop until, I swear, you can eat off that dining room floor. Vinegar, baking soda, ant traps…I finally did purchase a plant-based spray which has seemed to keep 99% of them at bay. At least, for now.
The other night at dinner Emry, who has watched this on-going battle with ants, remarked that she had killed an ant outside that afternoon. I told her she didn’t need to kill the ants outside. That’s where they are supposed to live. And, after all, God did create them.
Emry nodded in her sage little way, agreeing that God did create the ants and then added, “Jesus sent the ants into our house.”
Ed started laughing. I wasn’t sure what to say. For her logic was superb. Of course if Jesus created the ants He could send them where He pleased – outside or in my house. I certainly couldn’t dispute that, but I think I responded that I wished He would keep them out…and find another way to sanctify me.
Scholars with my years of education that I have been alive sit around and dispute the sovereignty of God. Is He really sovereign? Or maybe just half sovereign? And if “half sovereign” is even possible, then what does “sovereign” even mean? Meanwhile, my four-year-old stops me in my tracks with her perfect train of logic: if God created the ants, then He is over them. And if He is over them, then He sent them into our house. Because God is, indeed, sovereign over all.
I must confess I haven’t looked at an ant the same way since. They remind me of God’s sovereignty…and my need of sanctification.
But if the ant I see is in my house…well, I do still kill it.
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