How Do You Eat an Elephant?

I know our church has its share of hunters, but deer tend to be the normal fare. Elephant hunters? I’m not sure we have them. So, in our unified ignorance, the title question could present us with many options. Yet, in all, there is one common theme. Regardless of how you decide to eat an elephant, you’ll end up eating it one bite at a time.

Lest your memory be poor, let me remind you…elephants are big. And eating an elephant would take a long time. Taking a look at the size of the meal before you would discourage even the heartiest appetite. But if you’ve been charged with eating one, one bite at a time is the only way to go.

As we look at our task of parenting, we can too often be overwhelmed with the meal before us. It presents us with a seemingly insurmountable task. We look at our 6 year old and wonder how he’ll ever get married. We look at our 11 year old and don’t know which of her sin patterns to address first. We look at our 16 year old and wonder who dropped the 32 year old in her skin. And, as a result, we’re overwhelmed.

Remember…one bite at a time.

If we try to address every issue our children have, we’ll spend all our waking hours in correction or some sort of “life-shaping” discussion with them. If we dwell on all there is to do and the limited resources we have to do it, the sheer weight of the task will crush our fragile hearts.

Step back and remind yourself…one bite at a time.

Maybe an external example would help. Take yourself for example.

You were a sinner, far from God. When God redeemed you, He got the whole package, sin patterns and all. When He began convicting you of sin, did He attack all of your sin at once? Did He demand that you deal with every imperfection, flaw, and wart on your soul? Clearly, the answer is no.

He approached your soul one bite at a time. A little bit of truth…a little bit of application…a little bit of encouragement. Then He moved on to another bit of truth…another bit of application…another bit of encouragement. He demonstrated patience with you…and He still does. He’s not in a rush to swallow the elephant whole…He moves one bite at a time.

How would the parenting task change in your home if you stopped trying to swallow the whole elephant? How would that affect your joy? …your encouragement? …your conversation?

“Whole-Elephant” parenting does nothing but give both the parents and the children a belly ache. No one can swallow a meal like that. Put on patience…put on a long view of the parenting task. And follow the example of your loving heavenly Father and approach it one bite at a time. That is how you eat an elephant.