MY TEACHER: THE BUG                                                    – Mickey Burleson (7/15/2006) While sitting on my back deck this week just before dark I noticed an insect, possibly some species of ant moving across ever so silently, quickly traveling to some destination completely unknown to me.  The bug soon disappeared from my sight as he continued his journey.  The bug probably never thought about me (Do bugs have thoughts?) and yet I have certainly thought about him.  Day after day I live my life coming and going almost never noticing the wonders of the world, the small and the great things of God.  And yet God notices.  Not only does He “notice” but He cares and provides for His creation which includes me as well as the bug.  This incident challenged my thinking and led me to consider God’s word in Psalm 8: “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!  Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger.  When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?   For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.  You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen – even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas.  O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!” What a question the Psalmist asks!  “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?”  Can you and I ever really understand the depth of that question – that statement of truth?  Who am I that God would think of me?  Does He really think about me?  Who am I that the Creator of the universe would notice me, as I work or study or play or rest or live?  Can it be that I am significant when (at least to me) it seems that compared to just about everything else I am insignificant? Yes, yes, and again I say “yes.” God sees you!  He cares for you.  He cares for me.  He loves His world (John 3: 16).  He is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9).  We are significant. Matthew (23:37) and Luke (13:34) write the words of Jesus as He spoke of Jerusalem.  Our Lord describes His love for His people in saying, “How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings…”  Just think about that picture of God… In my youth I actually saw a mother hen call her chicks to her, spread her wings to allow every single chick underneath and then walk to the “henhouse” to get away from an approaching storm.  The amazing thing: The chicks heard their mother and without hesitation or reservation came running to her.  How disappointing it is to read about Jesus calling to His people and, well look at the Scripture for yourself in Luke 13:34 “…but you were not willing.” You and I can be different if we are willing to be.  Let us learn not just from a bug, but more importantly from God’ s word, the Bible.  There are many passages that express God’s promises.  One such passage is found in 1 Peter 5:6-7.  Think of the mother hen and her chicks mentioned above then compare this Scripture and specifically the words “under the mighty hand of God”. “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” That bug taught me a lesson about God and rightly so.  Nature is one of God great teachers.  Take a look at Romans 1:20 and see that God’s creation shows us His “invisible attributes” even “His eternal power and Godhead”.