If you follow MHM on FB or IG, you’d know that we shared a great little article from Not the Bee that included a porcupine family defending their babies against a cheetah. It was pretty amazing. I never knew that porcupines could hold their own against a cheetah!
If you watch the entire video, it’s quite clear that it’s not as if a porcupine can actually defeat the cheetah or anything. But what is clear is that those porcupines know how to work together to defend their babies. No matter what.
Porcupines paint a pretty beautiful picture of how to defend our young, and I definitely think we can all learn a lot from watching God’s creation in action.
Which way to face?
First off, the porcupine parents never faced their adversary. They instead faced their babies. This tactic won’t always work, but I thought it was so interesting that in this case, that was definitely their best defense. I can’t help but think they must have been communicating to them, “Don’t worry sweetheart! We’ve got this. Just keep looking in my eyes. You’re going to be OK. We’re all going to be fine.” Can you imagine the fear of those babies? This big ferocious animal is trying to get their teeth into you! The only thing between those babies and that animal, is their mom and dad. And some serious quills.
Or maybe those babies had no idea what was going on. All they knew was that their mom and dad were there to protect them. Maybe they were clueless as to the danger they were in, but they knew they could trust their parents to defend them, come what may.
It’s not a stretch to make the analogy between that animal family and ours. Our job is to teach our kids and keep them from danger. In order to protect them, we must obviously be there for our children (i.e. in person). But we must also fill their hearts and minds with what is beautiful, good, and true. If not, they may be lulled away from us, and straight into danger.
Love me some quills
Second, as I’ve already mentioned, those porcupine parents were not facing their enemy. However, they were defending their family with what the LORD provided for them – their quills.
I would argue that those quills are a physical representation of Truth. And that cheetah represents all of the garbage being thrown at our kids today from the culture. It is our job to stand on truth, which is what God’s Word provides for us. No matter how hard others may try to attack our children, they just won’t be able to get past that darn truth. It keeps poking and pinching them, and stopping them from getting to their goal – our children.
The truth can hurt. God’s Word can be very prickly. But praise God for Truth! When we wrap ourselves in the Truth of Scripture, we are protected. We need to be reminded that God’s Word talks about the “belt of truth…and the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Ephesians 6:13 – 17). Belts hold us together, and the one weapon God provides is His Word. We shouldn’t be afraid to use it, especially in defense of our children.
Never giving up
Finally, I thought it was so telling how that cheetah was determined to get its lunch. It kept trying to get to those defenseless porcupine babies. But no matter how hard it tried to pry and wriggle its way between those quills, it just couldn’t quite reach them. That was clearly because although the backs of those porcupine parents were facing that cheetah, they were well aware of how wily their attacker was. They weren’t naive. And they weren’t giving up.
Neither should we. We must be aware that there are cheetahs around looking to get ahold of each member of our family, including us. Or as God’s Word puts it, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour,” (1 Peter 5:8).
Our spiritual fight
The video is a fascinating peek into what is happening in many ways at the Spiritual level. It is our job to be Porcupine Parents that are fully engaged and protecting our children appropriately. We must fill them with all things Good, Beautiful, and True and “Talk about them when (we) sit at home and when (we) walk along the road, when (we) lie down and when (we) get up,” (Deuteronomy 6:7).
If we don’t, there are plenty of others who will fill that void. And I’m pretty sure they are anxiously awaiting to strike when given an opportunity. Just ask those porcupines!
I’ve honestly thought that maybe I should have named this business “Porcupine Mama” after watching that video! Although the name change won’t happen (Mud Hen Mama sounds lots better and still applies!), the principal remains. Protecting and defending our families is what the LORD has called us to do. I pray we all strengthen our backs and build up those “quills!” Amen?
