Sorting through some old papers I had stashed away, today I came upon this story I had printed out from an email I received on October 11, 2004. The original source for the story is the book Keep A Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot, published in 1995. It became attributed to Josh and Karen Zarandona when they passed it on in an email.
Supposedly, the original story came to Ms. Elliot from a Brenda Foltz, of Minnesota. I found the story just as thought provoking as I did in October of 2004. I really wish that I were writing this story as an illustration of a moment and a revelation that changed my life. Unfortunately, having a penchant for truth, I’ll confess that did not happen. I wish it had.
Sometimes I need to be reminded – over and over – of the lessons I need to learn in life. I share this with you in that spirit. I suppose most of you may have seen this in the past, but perhaps a few of you, like me, could enjoy it again.
The Ant and the Contact Lens
Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Although she was scared to death, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took hold of the rope, and started up the face of that rock. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda’s eye and knocked out her contact lens. Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn’t there.
Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry. She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth.” She thought, “Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me.”
Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, “Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?” Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it. Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, “Lord, I don’t know why You want me to carry this thing. I can’t eat it, and it’s awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I’ll carry it for You.”
At the risk of being accused of being fatalistic, I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally say, “God, I don’t know why you me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it’s awfully heavy. But, if you want me to carry it, I will.” God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
This was originally published in the very early Treehouse days. It has been shared many times in many places. I thought now would be a good time to re-visit it.
Amen
I like that: “God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.”
Amen
We used to have a poster at work I just loved it said ” Hospice nurses are not hired they are called” so very true.
I will carry that around for the rest of my existence! I didn’t find the Tree House until some years later! Thanks Menagerie. This is the first site I check on to get ANY info of the day as I’ve left the boob tube/radio many years ago.
Thanks for the reminder.
Great story.
My wife is going throygh chemo. It has been terrible for her and therefore tough on me to view her struggles.
Thank you for this post.
It has encouraged me.
Magic Mineral Broth, it replaces the magnesium and potassium that chemo robs. Godspeed to you both
Thank you! I have a friend who’s just starting chemo. Will be whipping up a batch soon. Sounds like a good thing to have in the freezer as well.
Prayers for your wife Muncy.
God bless all
Prayers of healing, comfort and strength for your wife, Muncy, as well as for you.
May God bless you both with strength and healing.
Prayers of agreement on the winds…
Prayers.
Prayers for you and your wife. Prayers for comfort, strength, healing, and hope.
Praying for God to give you both the strength that you need to get thru this. The post was indeed very encouraging for many of us here in the treehouse.
God’s Blessings…
My wife went through what you are feeling, when I was going through the same thing. It was hard on her, to watch me struggle so hard.
I will pray for her and yourself, and your family. There is light at the end of the tunnel. I truly understand how you both feel.
I am still here, and have beaten this awful disease. Keep the faith brother. Stand beside her and behind her, love goes a long way when it comes to healing.
My prayers and heart go out to you both.
Been there too with my wife. It’s brutal. I used to think that life was a difficult thing to understand until I discovered that contemplating death brought the struggles of life into a whole new prospective. Too bad it took so long.
It changes you both, going through this cancer deal.
I have become much calmer, and much more thoughtful. My wife has become much more understanding and relaxed. Little things dont bother us. Life becomes much more precious. Time as well. You learn to not waste emotions or feelings on things that aren’t priority.
I pray for this man and his wife. You and I have both been there. Love and strength can go a long way. I know what you mean about, too bad it took so long…..
When you are facing death, it brings clarity and understanding of our lives, to a different level.
I pray in God’s name to save this man’s wife, and spare them the pain.
Prayers for your beloved wife…
Lovely.
needed that
It was refreshing to revisit this little gem. 🐜
Great story. Thank you.
Praise the Lord.
So many times I have been reminded of God’s truths in a work of fiction! He is Lord of all creation and he can use the tiniest member of His universe to re-order anything that satan has disordered. He never overlooks anyone or anything.
Thank you Menagerie. Timing is perfect. You were chosen to remind us and deliver this message today.
Said another way: Satan never kicks a dead horse.
Ah, perfect!
Need some extra dynamite for that chunk of rock. And He has it. chuckling
Thanks for republishing this story. I hadn’t seen it before and found it refreshing and thought provoking. It reassured me that God is always there watching out for our needs and expecting very little in return, except a little prayer now and then. It’s nice to see people acknowledging his place in our lives.
Dear GOD Take away Tribulation give us strength,
And wisdom!
Dear God, please fill me with your strength to go through the tribulations that satan lays in my path.
Thank You for letting your Holy Spirit be one with my spirit through Your Son Yesua.
amen and amen
Thank you, Sundance. I guess I started reading here well after you first posted this, and I never saw it.
It carries a really good lesson, eh?
It’s a great story, but Sundance isn’t the author – it’s Menagerie. Sundance is still off fighting the good fight after the hurricane!
Carrying his contact lens.
@stella
Ha! Thanks stella. Credit where credit is due, so thanks, Menagerie!
Yeah, A few things have been posted FOR Sundance, as near as I can tell. Under his instructions was how I made it out to be. It seemed a bit much for Sundance to post from a phone or something like that.
I know you and Menagerie and ad rem (anyone else?) have administrative privileges and can and do post time to time. I’ll have to be more careful about reading the ‘Author’ spot while Sundance is otherwise occupied.
‘The Crew’ is doing a fine job of adding in bits and bobs since Sundance’s postings will be rather thin for a while.
Nice! 👍 👍
Best regards,
H.R.
Thank you menagerie. A beautiful message and reminder for those of us in the midst of challenges. Very much appreciated.
Thank you
Thank you.
Thank you so much for posting this! What a wonderful story and I so needed to be reminded of this at this very moment in my life!
And I have that book but I bought it a long time ago and I never got around to reading the whole thing. Life gets in the way as they say.
Love, love, love from one Grandma to another, Menagerie
Love it, thanks for digging it out of your files.
Thank you for this story. It is a message I sorely need at this time.
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me!
Lynda Randle and Bishop Jakes sing it for you.
Thanks for reminding us of the need for humility, Menagerie.
Thanks! I needed that.
Amen!!
Sweet. Thanks for sweetening my Saturday.
I love this story! Thanks for reminding me both of the power of prayer, and the importance of each of us in God’s world.
If we could all be like that ant.
Amen ~ this put words to my thoughts this morning.
Blessings to you and all the faithful in Jesus!
Jesus could not have shared a better parable…
Amen! Thank you so much!!
I’m going to pass this on and keep it in my files.
I needed this, thank you
Thank you.
Thanks for posting this.
I’m not a religion minded person or a Godly type.
This story, however, touched me in an unexpected way. This will be passed on to friends and relatives.
I think you owe a little context of who Elizabeth Elliot was. Her husband, Jim Elliot, along with I think 3 other men were the missionary who were killed in Ecuador bringing the Gospel to a tribe that had never heard it. She lost a second husband to cancer. She was admired for her great faith by millions or Christians around the world.
Excellent advice at this much needed time in the world today.
Maybe that is what it means to be “God’s fool.”
Just reading it makes us all feel a bit stronger.
Thank you, Menagerie!
I am doing a Bible study of the Gospel of John and last week we studied the Death of Lazarus. One of the ladies in my group mentioned that the verse that really struck her was John 11:6 “Yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where he was for two more days.”
We really dug into the realization that God has purposes and plans that we cannot understand and thus sometimes, it “feels” like He is mean or doesn’t care but that is NOT TRUE!
I have been pondering that thought for several days now and trying to rest in what I KNOW rather than allowing my fears to rule my mind. This story was yet another reminder to me that God is intimately involved in our lives and His long term plans are for our good and His glory, even though it may feel incredibly hard and unfair in the moment. (And I do believe that there are some things that He allows that will never “make sense” to us until we are in His presence and I am trying to rest and trust in those things as well.)
One of the saints, I do not remember who, said that God wants us to pray with persistence not for him to answer us, but for us to conform our will to his, and ready us for his answer.
We do not pray to change God. We pray so that God can change us.
Paul wrote to his brethren in Ephesians 6:18
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”
and in Romans 12:12
“Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer.”
His answer never comes in the manner we expect but one has to be listening for it.
It’s never too late for the ONE who has power over death.
that was done so there was a certainty that Lazarus was truly dead and God could receive all the Glory for his resurrection…..if you will remember his sister tells Jesus “for he truly stinketh”……the body is corrupted and starts to decompose heavily at about the 3 day mark which is why Jesus waited until beyond this point
Interesting that Lazarus comes up in conversation today. This makes it 3 times his name came up today. The first was while watching a you tube video by Alex Christoforou (one of the 2 The Duran people) talking about the stuff happening in Ukraine and he was in the town of Larnaca, Cypress – and as an aside he mentioned, that is where Lazarus is buried. The second was also reading the gospel of John this morning; and find when that happens it means it’s time to focus on the lesson these coincidences emphasize.
Yes, and we understand all of that in hindsight and also realize it was a precursor to the fact that he was going to be in the grave for 3 days before he rose.. but, AT THE TIME, the disciples were confused by the delay and Mary and Martha were distraught and disappointed. All emotions that can overtake us when it doesn’t feel like God is moving in the ways we think He should be!
That is such an awesome story. And it reminds me of my own, not quite as good one.
I had just gotten married. My wife and I were off to a cabin we rented for our honeymoon in the hill country of Texas. We were almost there, in Wimberly, Tx…
My car was a junky old Dodge sled I had purchased for $200 and the air conditioner was not in great health, which is problematic in Texas in August.
So, when we noticed a small river, with a tree and a branch and a tire tied to the branch and a place to park, we pulled over for a swim. Soooo happy for a chance to cool off! lol!
The river was flowing pretty swiftly but didnt seem too threatening so we pulled the tire back, I climbed on, my wife let it go, and I jumped in.
To my shock and horror, my brand new wedding ring just floated off my finger and into the abyss…
As the water was between 8 an 10 feet, I dove repeatedly down to the bottom to try to find it. I spend a couple of hours and finally gave up, exhausted from trying to see in the murky water without mu glasses and from fighting the buoyant force pushing me back to the surface.
Despondent, I kept asking the Lord, “Why would want me to lose my wedding ring?”
I then remembered having passed a Walmart about 20 miles earlier, so we got back in the car and drove there, with the idea of buying a diving mask and trying again to find the ring. Going there and returning was the longest drive of my life. I just kept imagining the swift current sweeping that ring along the bottom of the rivet, never to be seen again… and the symbolism of that was just eating me up.
Anyway, we finally got back, late in the afternoon having bought an unbelievably cheap mask. It hurt to put it on because it was child sized, made for a kid.
On the first dive down I spotted the ring immediately, glimmering right there in the light. I grabbed it, floated to the top, and shouted out “Thank God!!!” My wife said, “You *actually* found it? I cant believe it!”
The sense of relief and thankfulness I felt is beyond my ability to describe. But, let’s just that 9 months later, Wimberly became a part of our first daughter’s name. And over the last 40 some years of our marriage whenever a problem has come up, I would just pull out that mask as a reminder that everything would be okay.
God, indeed, works in mysterious ways.
Wonderful…
But then the World is full of wonders if we are willing to open our eyes to see them…,.
That is a great story to strengthen our faith, continuing to walk our path even when we don’t have the first clue as to why we are doing it.
Apparently this Is a true story. 😯
https://graceformyheart.wordpress.com/2013/10/15/the-ant-and-the-contact-lens/
Colossians 1:24, [Paul], “I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” …… Offer it Up, for everyone.
Great story. Thank you for sharing.
Awareness is such a marvelous gift and gives particular relevance to the saying that “You’ll never walk alone.”
It takes a lot of discipline to stay in that state of mind but is the path to realizing you are a child of grace.
At some point in this journey you realize that God was always there just waiting for you to walk life’s journey with him leading the way.
We probably all have had incidents such as this that seemed impossible and miraculous. Without going into the details, I remember one that probably saved my life. At any rate, let’s hope the young woman appreciated that act of grace but then decided to be wise and take a pair of glasses with her when involved in recreational activities in the future just in case.
I was on a domestic flight one day and needed to get a rental car at my destination. The cabin air was very dry and my eyes were really itching, I think I probably had my contacts in for too long between cleanings. My spare contacts were in my checked bag, and one popped out during the flight and landed on the dirty floor. Then, as I was exiting the plane, the other popped out and stuck to my shirt. By the time I was able to get to a bathroom, it had dried up to the point it was useless. I was very nearsighted and there was no way I was going to be able to drive a car anywhere without contacts. So I waited for my checked bag to show up and it never did, was told they would deliver it to my hotel when it showed up the next day.
That was the day I decided to get LASIK. 21 years later it was pretty much the best decision I have ever made.
Some days we find what we want. Some days God lets us find what we need.
We sure read beautiful things here!
Great piece and so true. Thanks!
Articles like this are precisely why I come here. Thank you. Needed to read that. I struggle immensely with the ignorance of my fellow Americans I live amongst and tired of carrying the load of explaining what’s really happening to these people and why the powers that be are doing what they are doing. Sometimes feels fruitless to keep telling people truths that refuse to put two and two together.
So needed personally. Thank you.
I know God can turn a bad day into a great day just by his whisper. I can’t number all the times I was hot and prayed just for a breeze or clouds and God moved the air. Or working and could not do a job or fix a problem and the lord points my gaze to the solution.
One day while being wrenched to a point I thought I was going to die inside I asked for just anything to let me know he was there and immediately plumb “need you now” began to play on the radio. I can’t even think of that song without bursting into tears. It’s like instant tears.
So much in those moments “lost in time like tears in the rain”.
That pain and desperation is like a beacon for spiritual help. (Prayer is most effective in that place, fervency) Ever see a cold blooded person moved by Gods spirit, or even care about it, it means something. It means they are closed off.
They won’t teach you this in church but being born again is like being filleted, or skinned alive. Every nerve in your spirit is exposed and this world, well it’s like walking through a cactus field.
The Bible talks about how the word is sharper than any two edged sword dividing asunder…. That process is why few continue on in spiritual growth and make excuses like “those days of miracles are gone”. I judge not, I understand why. A single indiscretion becomes monumental.
A perfect example of growing in the spirit is working out, weights, running whatever. You induce pain upon yourself for growth. How many fat lazy people do we see today? Spirit first physical second. “God I want more faith”, and trials begin. “God I want to be close to you”, and you begin to see your ego being squished and squeezed away. “Is there a God?” Your world melts away and you see there is only God. I think maybe that’s the safest place to reside. Trust in our lord is the salve that reduces the pain. The more trust the less pain.
If we turn our suffering over to God, He will use it for His glory and our good.
He wastes nothing.
We just have to let go.
Exactly what my beautiful wife used to convey, before the Lord took her some 13-years ago. Thank you for reminding me of His ways.
Kindred soul here, my wife went to her just reward 10 years ago last month. Wonderfully married for 40 years and an eternal companion.
When my brothers and I sent Mom off to live in an extended care facility for Alzheimer’s patients, we set about cleaning out the house. In the attic in a corner we found a shoe box tied up neatly with a ribbon. There was a simple note on the box. “These things are not mine anymore. I gave them to God.”
We have no idea what might be in the box. They were not ours.
Letting go is terrifying, I liken it to natural death when it is presented to you by our lord. I believe few ever do. Well, I know few do, the Bible describes it as “few find the path.”
Isaiah 61:3 to console those who mourn in Zion, (salvation is Zion) to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the lord, that he may be glorified.
righteous fruit.
“…and God moved the air.’
What a lovely image your words convey! 🙏
I try not to write long comments, but this excellent thread deserves a few succinct comments.
Dr. Francis S. Collins wrote a book, titled the Language of God, in which he discusses his journey from being an agnostic, to becoming an atheist, to becoming a believer. An excellent book to read, and if you’re not familiar with Dr. Collins, he is the physician-geneticist that headed up the human genome project.
For those that question the existence of God, keep in mind that the teachings of Christianity represent the way to lead all humanity, whether or not you believe in Divine Providence. Even if you take away the religious significance from Christianity, the principles of Christianity are the best guides to respect all humanity and to lead any country.
The same Francis Collins who was head of the NIH who pushed deadly vaccines and openly supports abortion and the use of fetal remains for research? If so, that Francis Collins has some soul searching to do because the god he may discuss is doubtfully the God of the Bible.
Amen chad, yes the Bible is “stand alone” teaching but, do not take it lightly. If you ever take up its course you will forever be relieved of your self. Quite a valuable exchange.
Beautiful!