Did you know a baby giraffe can fall more than six feet from its mother's womb and that it usually lands on its back? Ouch!
Within seconds it rolls over and tucks its legs under its body. From the shadow of its mother it considers the world for the first time. Then, as if it were not enough to fall so far when born, the mother giraffe rudely introduces her offspring to the reality of life.
In his book, A New View From the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes how a newborn giraffe learns its first lesson. The mother giraffe lowers her head to take a quick look. Then she positions herself directly over her calf. She waits for about a minute, and then she does "the most unreasonable thing," as Mr. Richmond put it. She swings her long leg outward and kicks her baby, so that it is sent sprawling head over heels.
If it doesn't get up, the violent process is repeated over and over again. The struggle to rise is monumental. As the baby calf grows tired, the mother kicks it again to stimulate its efforts. Finally, the calf stands for the first time on its wobbly legs.
Then the mother giraffe does a remarkable thing. She kicks it off its feet again! Why? Animal keeper Jack Badal explains, "She wants it to remember how it got up." In the wild, baby giraffes must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with the herd where there is safety. Lions, hyenas and leopards all enjoy eating young giraffes, and they'd get to, if the mother didn't teach her calf to get up quickly.
So how well do we get back up when life knocks us down, as it does from time to time? Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been.
The apostle Peter described the value of trials: "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:6-7).
"A righteous man falls seven times and rises again" (Proverbs 24:16, emphasis added throughout). Paul said we must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:21-22). "If we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end," then we shall obtain the reward (Hebrews 3:14).
So when we are kicked down, we must with the help of Christ get back up. With each time we will, just like the baby giraffe, become stronger and attain our reward in the end.
