How did these birds get the funny name of rockhopper? Let’s imagine we’re following one of these penguins around, and we’ll soon learn the answer.
Leaving the female on the nest, caring for the little chick, the male hops along the edge of their high cliff to where there is a way down to the seashore below. It is rough and full of huge rocks, but these don’t bother him. He just hops over them and soon is at the bottom where big waves are crashing in.
He immediately dives into a wave and is soon swimming in smooth water. Diving fairly deep, he spots a small fish that also spots him and tries to swim away. But a rockhopper can swim faster, and soon the fish’s tail is in his mouth, and then ... goodbye fish!
He may do this a few more times until his stomach is full. But then he needs one more to take to their little chick. So the next catch, instead of going all the way to his stomach, is stored in his crop.
When he decides to head back to shore, he may find there are immense waves which are pounding against the rocks he needs to reach. Reaching a rock, but before he is able to get a foothold, he may find himself washed back out by the waves time after time, until somehow he finally gets past the pounding surf.
Now he has a tough climb ahead of him. Is a big rock in the way? Just hop to the top, and hop down the other side. This is done many times until he reaches the top of the cliff and can scamper home, hopping over gullies and other things along the way. So you see it was only natural for these interesting penguins to be given the name “rockhopper.”
When the male gets back to the chick, he will bring up the partially digested fish from his crop into his open beak where the hungry chick can reach it.
The rockhopper doesn’t have easy circumstances to live in, we might think. But God, who made them, made them so they are able to live there. Our opening verse tells us that God doesn’t let any of us have troubles that are too much for us. He makes the way for us to handle the trials He lets us have, by depending on Him. We never need to fear trouble, because He promises that we will be able to bear whatever He allows in our lives, just as He has made it possible for the rockhopper to bear the life He has ordained for it to have.
Messages of God’s Love 4/30/2023