“Everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for my glory, whole I formed and made.” (Isaiah 43:3 NIV)
I woke up to the woodpecker beating his beak against faraway hardwood somewhere in our hollow. His rigorous effort reverberated through my morning routine, reminding me of a fact I had heard spouted recently.
Woodpeckers tongues are four times as long as their beaks. Read that again and imagine your tongue being four times as long as it is. For why? For me, this question gives way to many… Do woodpeckers tongues loll from their mouths like dogs panting on a summer day? Do they hang around their necks like winter scarves while they are drilling for breakfast? Do they ever slip and bite their tongue like do? Do woodpeckers even have teeth? Who climbed the trees with binoculars in hand to observe the woodpecker’s oral orifice at work? I hear our woodpeckers daily, but I have yet to see one. They sound as though they are high and away in the tallest parts of the trees, far from my prying eyes.
Turns out the woodpeckers tongue is four times as long as it’s beak for two reasons: one to reach into the depths of the drill holes to retrieve it’s next meal and two to protect it’s tiny brain as it beats against the bark. Think about it, if you or I bashed our heads against a surface like that, we’d suffer concussion. We’d have brain injury, right? One or two hits and we’d be down for the count. Yet woodpeckers beat their beaks agains the bark endlessly. Turns out that big long tongue retracts up and around the brain, insulating it from the impact. More than that, their neck muscles, specific perch stance, brain density and even their third eyelid (yep, you read that right) are all designed to absorb the shock of their work. Here’s a handy-dandy link if you are like me and ready to read more about woodpeckers.
The woodpecker is specifically devised to survive and even thrive in the life he is made to live. His entire frame is constructed around his unique purpose in the created world. This reminds me of one of our scriptures from Sunday:
“the people I formed for Myself that they may proclaim My praise.” (Isaiah 43:21 NIV)
Just as the woodpecker was especially designed to drill into hardwood for it’s daily meals, we are designed to praise God. Our DNA is assembled to bring Him glory. This is true on a collective humanity level but also as individuals. I think about the woodpecker and I realize that my God has similarly fashioned me with my actual life in mind. I have been created to withstand certain forces (chaos, confusion, fear, limited resources, personal exhaustion) for the sake of proclaiming the gosopel. He has assembled my life in a manner that will ultimately bring Him the most glory.
I suspect, He has designed your life to thrive through your unique circumstances, too!
“And every tongue acknowledges that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father.” (Philippians 2:11 NIV)
When we use these frames to live out our Kingdom purpose, God gets the glory. And isn’t that the chief end of man?
Lord, thank You for Your perfect consideration and design of our lives. We trust Your sovereignty. Just as You created the woodpecker to absorb the stressors of his environment, You have equipped us to thrive in our particular conditions. We are formed for praise. We will triumph through these circumstances and You will receive all the glory. Amen.