Are you an Elephant?

One of my all time favorite children’s books is “Horton the Elephant Hatches an Egg”, by Dr. Seuss.  It is awesome. It rhymes. It is silly.  It is a beautiful picture of faithfulness. 

In the story Horton the elephant is tricked into sitting on an egg in a nest for Mazie the lazy bird who runs off to have adventures and fun. Horton endures ridicule, rain storms, and captivity, all while staying true to his promise to sit on this egg and reciting his mantra, “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant, an elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent”.

Are you an elephant? Are you “faithful, 100%”?   Faithfulness is not easy. Like Horton, we experience difficult times that seem to take precedence over a previous commitment.  Duty can begin to blur when life gets too busy or too hard.  People sometimes ridicule your choices. Storms and captivity to the time constraints of life can all pull us away from being an elephant; if we let them.

What does faithfulness look like?  One of my favorite stories of faithfulness in the Bible is that of Noah. He spent years of his life building a giant boat where there was no water.  He gathered animals where there was no zoo. He proclaimed God’s declaration of destruction where there was no belief in God.  Talk about ridicule!  I am sure he was considered as crazy by the people of his day as Horton was by the animals in the jungle! An elephant sitting on an egg and an old guy building a boat for God = faithful, 100%. 

Is your faithfulness situational? Are you faithful to commitments and friends as long as it is convenient? Do bad weather and unforeseen circumstances cause you to walk away from the egg you agreed to sit upon? Do hardship and difficult times cause you to abandon the boat God called you to build?

Our God is faithful. What he has called us to He has equipped us for.  For the rainstorms of life he has gifted us with the emotional umbrella of his care and mercy. He gives us shelter from the storm but doesn’t always remove us from its path.  During the busyness of life he provides times of rest and refreshment in His word.  And in the midst of serving Him, our families, and others, he equips us with strength for the journey.

Really, Horton had it right. Our faithfulness hinges on our willingness to trust in God’s faithfulness. “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant, My God is faithful, one hundred percent”.