The Response of Elephants
Did you see the video from the recent earthquake in San Diego, California? It wasn’t of people scrambling for cover, nor of buildings shaking and damage being done. The video was of elephants at the San Diego Zoo. As the quake began, the half-dozen elephants ran to the center of the pen, and formed what scientists call an “alert circle” putting their two seven-year-old calves in the center. The adults had their backs to the center and were obviously on high alert with heads and trunks swinging back and forth ready to confront any danger. It was like the elephants were saying, “bring it on…but you won’t get my kids without a fight!” It was amazing to watch.
The protective instincts God instilled in those marvelous creatures, I see and recognize within myself as a father of three. It is an instinct that wants to back the kids into a safe place and turns and says to the danger, “You want to hurt my child? You’ve got to go through me first!” Parents, we know this and yet, do we really take seriously the things that can really pose threats to our own “calves”?
The world is good at shaking things up. Sins today can be easily accessed and concealed on our devices (Num. 32:23). More children these days seek advice from peers or from AI (Prov. 1:8-16). The world’s machine continues to churn “ground-breaking” messages of rejection of truth with hatred and intolerance for those who believe in absolute truth. It ought to cause parents to at least consider if we’re at all like those elephants (John 18:37-38). By the way, these are examples of three “rumbles” among MANY (1 John 2:15-17)!
Note: we cannot keep our children safe forever, however, in teaching them the dangers of the sin that desires them and is crouching at the door, we can teach them to effectively hear the Word of God to keep them “safe and secure from all alarm” (Gen. 4:7, Eph. 6:1-4). Until the day that they leave home, parents, keep your children close and your head on a swivel (Eph. 5:15-17).
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