I Ate An Elephant

Yesterday, the term “Eat the elephant one bite at a time” had a whole new meaning. We just bought a house and one of the first changes we made was to the exterior. There was a big, beautiful rock wall totally covered with ivy. Having never dealt with ivy, little did I know the small battle I would fight most of the afternoon. The ivy had grown into every nook and cranny of the rock and in one place had even begun to burrow into the rock! All along the roofline, the ivy had begun to run shoots into the eaves and get inside the attic space. It was totally out of control.

I thought of sin and how it can grow and entangle, choke and overtake a person’s life and very existence. The removal was a tedious process in some places, and a few times, I had to pull with everything I had. The whole experience was messy with dust, pollen and several bird nest fragments showering down from above. The experience was also very cathartic.

After all the ivy was pulled down, Jill and I began cutting up the pieces of the vines. Some were easy to cut and some were the size of a small tree trunk. All of that ivy was fed by a tiny drip from a hose bib on the corner of the house. We’re going to have that small drip fixed and keep a watchful eye on the ivy that remains in the flower beds. It’s amazing that something so simple and seemingly non-threatening could grow so fast and get so enmeshed with our house’s exterior. If we hadn’t intervened when we did, the ivy would have caused some costly damage to the roof, walls and eaves. Most people were of the opinion that the ivy was not an attractive feature of the home. Apparently the previous homeowners thought it was pretty. Sin can look pretty and gets us all tangled up before we know it. Entertaining that little drip of temptation - indulgences of the smallest measure - can lead to being fully overtaken.

We ate the elephant one bite at a time yesterday and now the wall looks great. The ivy is chopped up and crammed into 12 bags ready for the garbage collectors, and we feel better for having done some hard work with visible results.

What big thing are you facing in your life? Is it a mountain of debt? We’ve been there too. Is it strained relationships with friends or family? Whatever it is, God can help. He’s bigger than any circumstance or situation. If he’s chosen to allow you to walk through this trial… to learn a lesson or maybe learn to depend on him more, he’ll help you. One step at a time, one “bite” at a time, you can turn the mountain into an ant hill. Big, elephant-sized problems are too overwhelming for most of us. When we have the “one bite at a time” mindset, we can accomplish the unthinkable.