LEADERSHIP CAPSULE
equipping leaders with skills, weapons and tools? to provide effective leadership for nations to ultimately fulfill the Great Commission.

Friday, 19th May, 2017

TITLE : The Leadership Lessons & Wisdom Principles From The Ants 5

#3 PREPARATION

"There be four things which are small upoun the earth, but they are exceedingly wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer." — Proverbs 30:25

"Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. - Ezekiel 38:7

The Quality Of Your Performance & Productivity is determined By The Quality Of Your Preparation.

Ants though small are wise. You think they are one of the weakest creatures, but they have wisdom that many men do not have. An ant brain has about 250,000 brain cells. A human brain has 10,000 million so a colony of 40,000 ants has collectively the same size brain as a human. But what does the ant do with its little brain that we can learn from? It prepares for tomorrow. Are you prepared for the future?

Today I want to share with you the third leadership lesson I observed when meditating on the anchor verse. It's the word prepare that caught my eyes. Wisdom doesn't live in the present but prepares for tomorrow. Preparation is another crucial wisdom principle I want us to observe in the life of the ants today.

Agur, a little known figure in the Old Testament who wrote the proverbs of our anchor text, sat down with his son and daughter and took an entirely different approach. He said, "Children, I want you to imitate the ant.

The Bible says in Proverbs 30:25 "....The ants prepare their food in the summer."

The word "summer" here speaks of the present while winter speaks of the future. It takes source of insight or wisdom to store up food or prepare for tomorrow that isn't tangible yet. The ant works today for tomorrow. Or, to put it another way, the ant knows and understands the time and seasons. The Bible say in Genesis 8:22 "While the earth remains, seedtime (a time to prepare for harvest) and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." This means preparation precedes harvest. The ants is so wise to ignore the summer and prepare for the winter. The ants has the ability of delay gratification... It's willing to wait. You cannot prepare yourself if you don't have the patience to wait for the harvest.

A lot of people don't know, don't understand, the time. Some live in the past. Or they live on the sins and tragedies of the past. They remember every time and every hurt that others have inflicted upon them. They can never forget and always remember the sins of their youth. Others live only in the present. They live only for today and give no thought to tomorrow or yesterday. Since yesterday doesn't exist for these sort of people, the sins and lessons of yesterday don't exist either. So they never learn, they never make amends, they never attain progress. And, of course, they never save up for a rainy day or give a thought to their future. Then there are those who live in the future. They never do today what they can do tomorrow. Their constant and favorite refrain is "after" or "later." After I get married, after I graduate, after I get promoted, after I retire, then I'll do this or that.

The ant, in contrast, knows and understands the times and season. It has developed an instinct to prepare itself in the present. It knows it has to work in the summer to prepare for the winter. Ants love picnics, but not as a time to relax. Before you are gone the ants are carrying off the cookie and hamburger crumbs – one crumb at a time. The whole time you are eating and enjoying yourself they are busy, busy, busy – working, straining, carrying the load.

Like the ant we are to know and understand the time. Like the ant, we are to use the present in order to prepare for the future. So in the natural preparation is important. Preparation can never guarantee success, but the lack of preparation can certainly increase your propensity toward failure. As the saying goes, “ Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity ."
When leaders fail, it’s highly attributable to their lack of preparation. When an opportunity is missed, it’s often because leaders didn’t prepare themselves or their employees well enough to see and seize it. “If you want to take advantage of opportunities to use your talents, skills and giftings, then you must be prepared when the opportunities arise. Once the opportunity presents itself, it’s too late to get ready.”

“Preparation doesn’t begin with what you do. It begins with what you believe. If you believe that your success tomorrow depends on what you do today, then you will treat today differently… If you are preparing today, chances are, you will not be repairing tomorrow.”