THE ANT'S SHADOW

I was on the roof of a very large building and saw an ant walking across the surface. I noticed that this small ant was casting a very large shadow in comparison to the ant's actual size. The shadow was about 20 times larger than the ant. I took a photo and thought about what this ant might have said to his fellow-workers when he returned to the nest. Full of pride, holding his head up high and stretching to stand tall, he might have boasted, "Hey, guys, I saw my shadow today and realized I am about 20 times bigger than I thought I was. As a matter of fact I am about 20 times bigger than all of you."
However the little fellow was pretty embarrassed the next day when he looked in the mirror and realized he was just a little guy...like all the others. He misinterpreted the shadow and became arrogant. My guess is that he also misinterpreted the mirror and became depressed because of blemishes revealed there. Self-centeredness can cause swings from one negative extreme to the other rather than finding the healthy balance of confidence and humility.

When Saul was little in his own eyes, the Lord made him king over Israel. When he became proud, he disobeyed and lost his place (1 Samuel 9: 21-25; 15:15).
King Uzziah was "marvelously helped until he was strong." But when he became big in his own eyes he acted presumptuously (2 Chronicles 26: 15-23) and entered the temple to offer incense on the altar, a job only the priests were authorized to do. When the priests rebuked him he became furious. He was immediately stricken with leprosy and fled from the temple. Because of his pride he dwelt in an isolated house until he died.

We should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to, and neither should we think too little of ourselves. The devil uses both of these problems to hinder our usefulness to the Lord. He tells us we are no good, causing us to suffer from a paralyzing low self-esteem. Then when the Lord does use us, the devil changes his approach and says, “You know, I was wrong about you. You really are good. As a matter of fact, you are great. God is lucky to have you.” The problem is that we tend to listen and agree with him, whether he's puffing us up or tearing us down.

Both arrogance and low self-esteem hinder faith and obedience. The sober Christian does not despair when he stumbles nor does he become puffed up when he succeeds. His strengths are in the grace of God and his weaknesses are opportunities for God's grace. The Christian can be confident and humble simultaneously. The godly attitude is, “I can do nothing apart from Christ, but I can do all things through Christ.”

Jesus rode on a donkey when He made the triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Luke 19:28-40). Can you imagine that donkey coming home from work that day and telling his wife, "Sweetheart, I was wonderful today. I finally received all the recognition I deserve. All the people were so happy to see me as I entered town. They greeted me with joyful shouts. They threw palm branches on the ground in front of me. They shouted great adoration and praise." Like the foolish donkey we sometimes get an inflated self-image and fail to recognize that the glory is meant for Jesus... not us.

All of us enjoy doing well and receiving compliments, and we should thank others when they compliment us. But we should then go into our prayer closet and present those "trophies" to Jesus. They belong to him. Jesus said, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me" (John 15: 4).

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us" 2 Corinthians 4:7).

"For I say...to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly , as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith (Romans 12: 3).

"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud." Proverbs 16: 18-19.