The Whale Beneath Me

Isaiah 40:30-31 -- "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." 

When my guys were little, a favorite topic for all manner of media was the unbelievably huge dinosaurs that once roamed this planet of ours. They could name several - even some of which I had never heard and STILL cannot pronounce. It never ceased to amaze that my two ankle-biters could remember difficult Latin sounding names of animals no human has ever even seen, but then score "lazy" on a spelling test or a math exam. I learned very early on in our home-based education adventure that I could disguise math facts in the rumply skin of an ancient lizard, and the boys would hardly notice they were actually learning. 

I owe a great deal to the long-dead behemoths. 

One interesting little tid-bit of information caught the boys' attention as they grew into a genuine interest for education - our fossilized friends of eons past were NOT the largest animals to ever live on this earth. Nope, that honor and CURRENT title belongs to The Great Blue Whale.

Now, I have yet to enjoy the somewhat terrible pleasure that must come from meeting a Blue Whale face to face - so it's difficult for me to imagine that they out-girth the dinosaurs. AND - having this "size-mick" information tucked away in my mental library helped to generate some surprise when I learned that the biggest baby ever to be born - actually struggles a great deal to make it to maturity. Really? Does size not account for automatic and unflappable protection?

Nope. It doesn't.

In fact, these precious new-born giants begin their lives in warm waters, but, since krill - a.k.a. Blue Whale Food - don't live in these cozy, temperate nurseries, after a few short weeks Momma and new-born have to swim some pretty incredible distances for a bite of lunch. While Mom is equipped with expert-level swim fins, Junior has yet to grow into his aquatic graces. It is for this very reason that Momma places her ample body underneath her calf as they swim back home to frigid Arctic waters. If she didn't make her journey swimming just underneath her bouncing bundle of joy, he would drown. Her support provides a place for him to float, rest, and catch his breath. His very first "road" trip would certainly be his last if Mom weren't there to carry him when he's too tired to keep moving forward. 

If their size boggles the mind - just the heart of an adult Blue Whale is the size of  a VW Beetle - it absolutely shocks to think that an animal created to live in the ocean is vulnerable to drowning. [Crazy!]. 

With the sweet and heart-warming image of a mother providing a living life raft to her baby swimmer, there came a gentle reminder that WE have that kind of hope and respite in our Lord. We are not making this tiresome swim - so often fraught with danger - completely on our own. 

Like a new born Blue Whale growing into his muscles, God knows we have yet to grow into our spiritual armor. We are SOOO not ready to battle our enemy alone! Even veteran prayer warriors stumble now and then, so it should come as no surprise that you and I get smacked with a tired that renders us immobile from time to time. But since our hope is in Jesus Christ, we CAN stop and float on His unwavering strength. HE is NEVER going to tire out. 

Isaiah 40:28-29 galvanizes our Hope. It reads:  "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak."

I'm  covered. My eternal hope is knowing that I don't have to swim a vast and icy expanse of perilous water where-in I might tire and drown. Nope, I have the whale beneath me. The Whale of all Whales. THE Great Blue Whale - the CREATOR - of the Great Blue Whale, even!