Elephants have a special significance in our family.  While growing up, whenever we would face something challenging, my mother would gently remind us, “How do you eat an elephant?” and after a pause, she would smile at us and give the standard answer of, “One bite at a time.”

Elephant was not on the menu at our house, nor did we have the desire to include it.  The elephant spoken of above represented a giant task or issue that faced us.  As a whole, the task seemed un-doable, but taken in small, consistent ‘bites,’ it could be dealt with in a successful manner over time.
 
This reminds me of my maternal grandmother whose method of  dealing with the ‘elephants’in her life was evidenced by the whistling or the humming of one of her favorite hymns.  Long before we ever entered her house and caught sight of her, we could hear her melodious notes trilling lightheartedly through the open window.  Grandma called it ‘singing herself happy.’  Regardless of the task she  performed – whether baking bread, hanging clothes on the line, canning, gardening or playing solitaire – she made it more enjoyable to herself, and to others, because she tackled her tasks one note at a time.  
  
Psalm 150:6 “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”
 
Do you have anything ‘elephant’-sized facing you?  Or have any challenging task ahead of you that seems overwhelming and
insurmountable?
 
Haggai 2:4  “Be strong, all you people of the land,” declares the Lord, ‘and work.  For I am with you.”
 
He is with us!  That assurance alone is enough to make us lift our hearts and voices in praise to Him.  Sing yourself happy as you worship Him and then watch as our Shepherd helps you deal with the elephants in your life.

 
(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord our Shepherd, see How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)

Gardeners everywhere have a special kind of faith.  They believe that spring will come, that the seeds they plant will sprout, and that, in due season, they will reap a harvest.  Before any seeds can be planted, however, the ground has to be prepared.  
 
The first time a piece of ground is to be used for raising vegetables, herbs, or flowers it has to be made ready.  The unbroken ground has to be tilled, and regardless of the size of the plot of ground being used or the method utilized to till it, there are undesirable items unearthed during this soil-busting process that have to be removed by hand.  This can be a long, tedious and frustrating operation. 

Early in the spring on a particularly hot day, I was using small garden hand tools to remove the sod that I had busted up a few days before.  With nearly each thrust of the three-tined cultivator, I would hear the sound of metal striking stone.  Lifting the tine-pierced sod piece, I shook it vigorously to dislodge as much soil as possible and then stared at the ground as a stone landed with a flat thunksound.  I casually tossed both to the edge of the garden plot, resumed humming a tune to myself and moved onto the next section of sod that needed to be removed. 

The more stones that were uncovered, the more my patience waned and my irritation rose.   As if to add insult to injury, on top of the sheer number of the stones, many of them needed to be dug out of the ground before they could be removed.  The casual tossing aside of each new stone turned into forceful throwing as my small mound of rocks grew to the size of a small hillock and my frustration over this project slowly crept towards anger.  
 
Sitting back on my heels, I wondered how something so full of the promise of joy could be so difficult to bring about. 
Would all of this effort even be worth it?  
 
I wiped the sweat out of my eyes and stared at the mountain of toss-aside sod and then at the ever-growing pile of rocks next to
it.  Only one-third of the garden plot had been cleared.  Looking at the remaining two-thirds, I felt the tears threatening to well, then glared at that pile of rocks as I asked God loudly, “Why did you have to make so many!?”

Luke 19:40 “I tell you,” he [Jesus] replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Why would stones cry out?  And who are the ‘they’ this verse speaks of?

 Luke 19:37-39 “When he [Jesus] came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:  “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!””

There will always be those who will try to make us be silent when we offer praise to God.  But our Lord deserves all of our praise, not just for all of the wonderful things He has – and is – doing, but simply for Who He is. He is our Creator, the King of Kings,
the Lord of Lords, our Champion, and our faithful God who is without compare. 
 
I smiled at that pile of stones.  They had ceased to be an irritation and had instead turned into a lovely reminder that it was my privilege as a living being to praise my Creator.  One day, all of the earth – including these stones – would cry out in praise to Him, but today, they would have to remain silent as I lifted my voice in prayerful praise to honor Him and to thank Him for being evident even in these stones.  

Are there any ‘rocks’ in your life?  Let them serve as a reminder that we have a Heavenly Father who longs to hear our prayers and receive our praise.  
   

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How You Can Find Him located at the top
of this page.)