The Weight of Elephants on my Mind

I always pray about the subject for my articles. I never know for certain what the Lord will place upon my heart or how he’ll do it. He just does. 

I used to fret and worry over the subject or whether I could even write another article. But the Lord constantly reminded me to trust him; and as promised, at the needed time and place, a topic and the words would flow into my heart and fingers. He always came through. 

Sometimes the topic is just a picture in my mind. Take my last article: a glass of wine kept coming into my head, and I couldn’t shake it. It took some research and thought to figure out what the Lord had in mind, but there it was: the symbolism for his blood and his wrath in the end times. 

The article about rape was inspired by a memory I hadn’t thought about in years. The image and the feelings I had at the time kept coming into my mind until I took the time to write them down. I never know what the Lord will plant in my heart, but he knows. 

A couple weeks ago, it was the image of an elephant. I don’t know at all how this figures into the gospel. At first, I thought it might be a vision of my next painting since I’ve been working on a series called: “India Rising.” But I’ve painted two pastel and two watercolor scenes in the meantime, and I still can’t shake the elephant. 

It must be politics, I thought. I’ve been consumed by the debates and news about the candidates. The GOP’s mascot is an elephant, hence my obsession, I thought. Further, one of the traits elephants have is that they never forget, and I certainly couldn’t forget the elephant images dancing through my head. 

Some people refer to problems as elephants, like the proverbial “elephant in the room” when the problem is obvious but the solution isn’t. Sales people refer to elephants when the task or goal seems too big. “How do you eat an elephant?” they ask; “One bite at a time.” 

Problems are like that; we can fret and become overwhelmed by their size, but if we break them into steps or items on a list, we can eventually devour their hold on us.

In my research to find the “missing link” (what the Lord wanted me to focus on) I discovered that the word “elephant” is not even mentioned in the Bible. However, it says that Solomon “made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold.” (1 Kings 10:18)

Ivory also was brought by the ships of Tharshish (1 Kings 10:22), and was among the treasures of the king of Tyrus (Ezekiel 27:6, 15). Ivory from the tusks of elephants were valuable and thought worthy to be used in the palaces of Israel’s kings and in their places of worship.

I also learned that the working elephant is able to memorize a large number of commands. Because of this, the elephant makes lasting friendships and recognizes humans and other elephants even when separated for decades. The elephant also remembers both kindnesses and wrongs, and is one of the most intelligent of mammals, next to chimpanzees and dolphins. 

So where did all my research lead? Sometimes the problem or the “elephant in the room” is us. It’s you and me. We focus on the wrong things. We worry about the size of the elephant (our problem) and how we’re going to deal with it (eat it or conquer it) instead of focusing on plugging along one step (one bite) at a time.

“The problem is not how to eat the elephant. It’s identifying the elephant in the first place. Once we’ve identified the elephant (our focus), then we can set our goals and decide how we’re going to reach them. Sometimes we have to stop dwelling on the work, and start focusing on the results.”

FROM “Pick the Brain Grow Yourself” @ http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-eat-an-elephant/

 As Christians, what “results” should we strive for? Eternal life. How do we get there? We focus our lives on Jesus Christ. Sometimes the goal seems out of reach; as huge as an elephant. But reaching high helps each of us to strive to be the best that we can be. Is the task overwhelming? Absolutely! But by breaking our life goals into “bites” we can improve and grow one step at a time. 

In our pursuit to become Christ like, we sometimes lose our way. The world, other people, competing and tempting messages lure us away and we lose our focus; we become like blind men groping in a dark world. 

Jesus said: “Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch?”

 Many people then as now did not recognize Jesus for who he was: the Redeemer of the world, the Savior of mankind, the Son of God. “He was in the world,” John said, “and the

world did not know him.” (John 1:10 KJV) 

The fable of the blind men shows how differently people perceive things and how they pursue and recognize the truth.

“Six Blind Men and An Elephant”: A Fable

A long time ago in the valley of the Brahmaputra River in India there lived six men who had all been blind since birth. 

One day, they started arguing. The object of their dispute was the elephant. Now, since each was blind, none had ever seen that mighty beast of which so many tales are told. So, to satisfy their minds and settle the dispute, they decided to go and seek out an elephant. 

Having hired a young guide, they set out early one morning in single file along the forest track, each placing his hands on the back of the man in front. It was not long before they came to a forest clearing where a huge bull elephant, quite tame, was foraging in the tall grass. 

The six blind men became quite excited; at last they would satisfy their minds. And so the men took turns investigating the elephant's shape and form with their hands. 

“O my brothers,” the first man cried out, “it is as sure as I am wise that this elephant is like a great mud wall baked hard in the sun.” 

“Now, my brothers,” the second man exclaimed with a cry of dawning recognition, “I can tell you what shape this elephant is - he is exactly like a spear,” he said running his hands down the elephant’s long tusk. 

The others smiled in disbelief.“Why, don’t you see,” said the third man – “This elephant is very much like a rope,' he shouted, playing with the elephant’s tail. 

“Ha, I thought as much,” the fourth man declared, holding the snaking trunk. “This elephant resembles a serpent.” 

The others snorted their contempt.“Good gracious,” said the fifth man as he held a large ear. “Even a blind man can see what shape the elephant resembles most. Why he's like a big fan.” 

At last, it was the turn of the sixth old man, and he proclaimed: “This sturdy pillar, feels exactly like the trunk of a great areca palm tree.” Of course, no one believed him. 

Their curiosity satisfied, they all linked hands and followed the guide back to the village. Once there, seated beneath a waving palm, the six blind men began disputing loud and long. Each now had his own opinion, firmly based on his own experience, of what an elephant is really like. For after all, each had felt the elephant for himself and knew that he was right! 

As it turns out, each blind man was partly right, though all were in the wrong, and so it is with the rest of the world and how difficult it is to obtain the truth. Many belief systems are out there, each may be partly right, but all are wrong; for Jesus declared: “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no person comes to the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6 KJV) 

It is not enough to be partly right where the Kingdom of God is concerned. Our focus must be strong and sure; our knowledge clear and true. Whether we like it or not, Jesus is the way. “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26 KJV) 

Don’t shoot the messenger! Believe in Jesus Christ and live.