A Strange Career Choice
This cartoon penguin is funny. But on another level, he’s faintly disturbing. Our little surgeon doesn’t appear to be at all suited for the healing role he’s been asked to fill. I don’t think doing surgery is what God had in mind when He created these flightless, fish-eating birds.
So why did the Almighty create penguins anyway?
Want a better question?
Why did God choose to create you?
Because there’s a divine reason why you are walking on the earth at this particular moment in history.
Life Begins
A newborn baby is often described as ‘a blank slate’ and they are. An infant absorbs an enormous amount of information from his or her environment and it shapes them into who they will be. Yet from a young age, small children begin to show innate abilities and interests. One child takes apart everything mechanical, while another considers every blank wall a painter’s canvas.
We are all born with different gifts and talents–and different interests. My brother Chris tested genius level in mathematics as a young teenager. Equations fascinated him, like intricate puzzles he could always solve.
Me? My true passion is biology and always has been. Most of my Pinterest images reflect my delight and fascination with the natural world, from sea creatures to microscopic organisms.
Then in college I became a born-again Christian, and my goals in life changed.
Shaped by Circumstances
My experiences over the past decades have altered me even more.
Each of us lives a unique life. Our common experiences overlap a great deal, but even identical twins experience the same event separately. The choices we make—who we love, who we listen to and who we follow—dictates where we go. Even more, how we respond when our life “falls into a dark place” makes all the difference.
Yet Jesus is standing by and He’s the Great Redeemer. The One who always offers a fresh start to his children, no matter where they wander.
Choosing the Wrong Calling
Sometimes Christians try to fill roles they aren’t equipped to do. Missionary work is only glamorous if you aren’t one. Otherwise, it’s full of red-tape, raising financial support and trying to build bridges to people as you learn their language and culture. Some Christians are drawn to the mission field, because it’s what God created them for.
Is Jesus disappointed in me because I’m not serving Him as a full-time foreign missionary? No, He’s not. I don’t have the skill set, or the desire.
It’s not who God created me to be.
Penguins aren’t meant to be Surgeons
Take another look at our cartoon penguin for a moment. He’s dressed in surgical scrubs and his flipper holds a scalpel. But our penguin surgeon isn’t equipped either mentally or physically to perform heart surgery or even take out an appendix. So it’s a good thing that on land this penguin doctor waddles.
Because all his human patients can outrun him.
The Penguin’s True Nature
Surgery clearly isn’t what penguins are designed for.
But if you put our “fowl surgeon” in the ocean, no Olympic swimmer can match the penguin’s speed, agility, grace, endurance or fish-catching skill.
Penguins often stay in the sea for months, coming out on land only to molt and breed. Some species thrive in freezing temperatures, in water so cold an unprepared human would die in a few minutes. Surprisingly, the Galapagos Penguin lives in the tropics.
Our Creator designed penguins to be happy, flightless, aquatic, fish-eating birds.
So what has Jesus designed you for?
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (Ps 139:13-14)
What is your purpose? Start asking Him and pay attention to how your Creator designed you..
The cartoon is supplied by Pixabay.com and the image of rapidly swimming penguins came from Morguefiles.com.
Resources:
Check out this story by Berkeley Breathed, creator of the Bloom County comic strip:
A Wish for Wings that Work An Opus Christmas Story by Berkeley Breathed
“If the cartoon character Opus in “Bloom County” makes you smile, you will love this short Christmas story. Opus the Penguin asks Santa for wings to help him fly like other birds. The tale takes an interesting turn when Santa’s sleigh malfunctions.“
For more interesting fun facts about penguins, check out these links:
10 Things You Never Knew about Penguins
Lastly, here’s the link to my Pinterest images.
