The Deer
This morning, I was driving to church (it’s a Sunday) and a deer darted across the road in front of me. We live in a more rural area, it was overcast, and, while the deer did cross the road in front of me, it wasn’t that close.
Anyway, I started considering the deer. A deer is born without any control of his or her herd or what territory they live in or what food sources are available. Because of the expansion of residential areas, deer have had to adapt to living in these mixed residential/farmland/wooded areas. I imagine that deer spend most of their time in wooded areas where they have some cover and protection from their enemies.
Because they are herbivores (plant eaters) they must graze, at times, beyond their protected territory. The size of the herd (reproduction) and the climate (drought, temperature, etc.) determines how often they must graze beyond their territory borders.
In this case, I’m assuming since it is late fall/winter, the deer had to graze in an area on the other side of the road I was traveling. In my imagined scenario, the deer heard and saw my vehicle driving down the road and got scared. He or she wanted to get back to their protected territory so much that he or she ran across the road to get to it.
In some ways, I’m like that deer. I feel safe in my house. As an introvert, I push myself to join big groups of people. I’m always glad that I did, after the event, but it drains my energy. I usually leave those events and run home to recharge my batteries, so to speak. In fact, I once told Patrick that if something were ever to happen to my wife, I was going to depend on him to make me (emphasis on make) interact with other
people because my natural inclination would be to hole up in my house and never go out.
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” - Philippians 4:4-9 ESV
“Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem. But Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the Lord. Nevertheless, some good is found in you, for you destroyed the Asheroth out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God.” Jehoshaphat lived at Jerusalem. And he went out again among the people, from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers. He appointed judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, for you judge not for man but for the Lord. He is with you in giving judgment. Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the Lord our God, or partiality or taking bribes.”” - 2 Chronicles 19:1-7
Coincidentally, (I used that word, but now that I write it, I believe it was the Holy Spirit working on me ahead of today’s service), Curtis gave an excellent sermon message on Revelation 21 regarding the new Jerusalem in heaven and how the description highlighted the safety that God has promised us there. If you couldn’t make it or just don’t remember, I’d encourage you to find it on Rumble.
