How to Thrive in Life. A Lesson from the Bee. Part 2.
In Part 1 of our series, we looked at three points in learning how to thrive in life as we study the bee.
1. Create a Royal Buzz. 2. Work Hard. 3. Mind Your Own "Beeswax"
You can read PART 1 of the series HERE. Let us go on as we continue to learn to THRIVE in the life God has blessed us with.
4. WORK TOGETHER.
While honeybees may gather their pollen alone, focusing on their own individual work and not comparing with others, they know that they are part of a bigger picture. Honeybees and bumblebees live in very social colonies.
“Worker bees have their own division of labor, where each bee specializes in a specific type of work that helps the hive.” (source)
“Honey bee colonies are well-run organizations. Certain bees are pre-programmed for breeding, collecting nectar, maintaining the hive or processing the collected nectar in the hive. These tiny workers have communication tools that enhance the productivity of their hive-mates.” (source)
Each bee has its own task to complete to keep the hive functioning - just as you have unique, God-given gifts that allow you the opportunity to thrive in this life. The saddest thing for me to see is when someone tries to adopt someone else’s gift instead of embracing their own. 1 Peter 4:10 says, “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” (NLT).
Also Romans 12:6-8, “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” (NLT)
Dear Friend, you are an integral part of God’s family. There is something only you have been called to do the way you can do it. There is something you have been chosen to say only the way you can say it. Your gifts and talents are not small compared to anyone else’s.
Pastor Sheryl Brady once said, “David would have never been king if he hadn’t been willing to deliver lunches. Be faithful in the small things.” The bee hive needs the Queen just as much as it needs worker bee #3,778. Without the Queen the hive could not survive and without worker bee #3,778, the hive would not function properly.
To thrive in this life, we must keep our eyes about our own gifts and calling without coveting others, and we must work together to reign in this life.
5. TASTE THE SWEETNESS.
One ounce of honey would give a bee enough energy to make a complete flight around the world. Isn’t that incredible?
So much study has been done on the medicinal benefits of honey it would be hard to mention them all here. Among a few, honey is an energy booster, cough suppressant, helps with skincare and acne, can reduce sinus issues, and even controls cholesterol.
The Bible says in Psalm 119:103, “"How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey."
If honey can deliver enough energy to help our physical bodies to “keep on keeping on”, how much more sweeter and significant is God’s Word to our spiritual bodies?
Spend enough time in the world, and it will beat you down. Your strength, your energy, and your focus can become so blurred, you won’t be able to see your way. The same can be said for those who spend too much time “doing church”. The church can wear you down. Your strength, your energy, and your focus can become so blurred that you lose sight of Jesus as you busy yourself with Kingdom work.
But when we feast on His word, we taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:4). We are renewed. Our energy, our focus, our strength grows in the light of His glorious grace. The words of the Lord are sweeter than honey. Savor it. Devour it. Live in its pages, and you will have the strength and energy to thrive in this life.
His word gives power to flee the evils of the world. The sweetness of His word refocuses you on the Creator so you can minister life to His created. To thrive in life, you must taste the sweetness of the Word of God. Consume all of its goodness and allow its energy to give you strength.
6. DON'T LOSE YOUR SONG & DANCE.
The past seven years for me have been so very busy I have lost my song and my dance. You may think I am silly in saying that. After all, I operate a community theater. My job is to sing and dance. And while that is true, I have lost the song and dance in my heart.
I have lost my praise. I have lost my worship.
I have lost my praise in the business of life.
I have lost my worship in the ups and downs of owning my own business.
I have lost my dance in people's problems.
I have lost my song in the middle of life’s sorrows.
It has not been all bad. The last seven years have brought beautiful moments as well. BUT, I have got to find my song and dance once again.
I have been singing Matt Redman’s song quite a bit lately. “I'm coming back to the heart of worship . . . And it's all about You, Jesus. I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it."
In studying the bee, I have found that the bee sings and dances. Crazy, right? But it is true.
“The honey bee dance is a method by which a honey bee scout tells a swarming colony about the location of a potential new home. A honey bee [also] communicates to its sisters the distance and location of food and also water [through the dance].” (source) In 1973, Karl Ritter von Frisch won a Nobel prize for cracking the honeybees' communication code. It was discovered that bees have an awesome sense of time, distance and direction which they communicate through the dance.
Bee’s also sing! When I found that out, my heart just about burst out of my chest. The nickname my dad gave me when I was a baby is coming full circle for me!
Only the Queen’s in the hive sing, or pipe, as it is more commonly known. There are a variety of reasons that apiologist's believe bee’s sing. Some say it happens when there is more than one queen in a hive fighting for control. Some say it happens when a mated queen is released into the colony making her presence known. And others say that only the Creator knows why the queen sings.
One beekeeper wrote, “The first time I heard it [the queen singing] I thought something—something totally non-bee related—must be in there. Even though I knew about piping, and realized what I was hearing, it was still a surprise. It’s amazingly loud. For those who are musically inclined, queen piping is said to be G-sharp or A-flat and occurs for about one second followed by a string of quarter-second pulses.” (source)
My dear sister, if you are going to thrive in this life, you cannot lose your dance. Your dance communicates praise to God. Just as the bee’s communicate with each other through the dance. Psalm 149:3 says, “Let them praise His name with dancing.”
When you dance as David danced, you are communicating the ultimate praise to your Heavenly Father. In your dance, you release the shackles of this world and you become free to thrive.
You cannot lose your song. Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
Your song and your praise takes your focus off of YOU and puts it on JESUS! When the bee sings, it isn’t just a sound, it is an actual pitch. It is a note. It has harmonic tones. It has a purpose just as your song has a purpose. Your song is more than just a “joyful noise” or the warmup before the Pastor preaches.
Dear sisters, do not lose your song and your dance. They are among your most powerful weapons. If the bee lost it’s dance, it wouldn’t be able to communicate sources of life. If the Queen lost her song, she wouldn’t be able to communicate her authority to the rest of the hive.
If you want to thrive and live an abundant life where you reign as a Mighty Queen, do not lose your praise, do not lose your worship, and do not lose your dance.
I truly hope this series has blessed your heart. I have learned so much about God in studying the lives of bees. I never thought that my childhood nickname and a favorite television series would become the cornerstone of this ministry . . . but God.
As I said in PART 1 of this series, I have such a passion to help others THRIVE in life. I am learning that life is just too short to waste on merely surviving. I want to help others THRIVE!
To receive your FREE 22 Page Ebook on How to Thrive in Life, CLICK HERE. This beautiful Ebook will give you the tools you need and practical application that will help you THRIVE and not simply SURVIVE!