You might not know this about me, but I love deer. I think they are beautiful and are fascinating to watch. When we lived by Percy Warner Park (where there are a plethora of deer) my family would “bid” on the number they think we would see as we drove down Chickering Lane. We would laugh together and change our numbers the further we got down the road. If we saw 8 deer and one of the girls had called 5, she would quickly change her number to 9 or 10 in hopes of winning the game! We drove down that street a lot…sometimes we would play that game numerous times a day.
This morning I woke up to deer in the field behind our house. When Annie hollered “deer!” I ran to the window. I parked myself there til they moved on (a good 15 minutes). I am fairly certain that my “high” for the day happened at 6 a.m.
So this morning I am smiling because I think that God had those deer wonder off their path for me. I’m no walking wikipedia on deer nor a Biblical scholar, but I have a few thoughts going through my head (that’s rare thing before 9 a.m.) so I started googling and journaling. I thought I’d let you into my journal today (yikes).
The first time deer are mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis 49 about Jacob’s prophecy to his sons. It says “Naphtali is like a deer running free that gives birth to lovely fawns. Joseph is like a wild donkey.” In general, my spirit is more like a wild donkey (refrain from comments:), yet I am drawn to the gentleness of a deer (don’t get me wrong, if I woke up to a bunch of asses in the field I wouldn’t take my eyes off of them either). I think if deer could talk its words would be gentle and kind. Thats how I want my words to be.
One thing that is fascinating to me is how a deer can jump over tall fences. I get wide eyed and hold my breath watching as I am doubting that they will make it. Isaiah 35:6 “The lame will leap like a deer.” When God does something He usually makes it memorable. Leaping like a deer must be significant. I googled. A red kangaroo can leap like a boss. Why didn’t God reference a red kangaroo? I have no idea besides how graceful and effortless a deer makes obstacles look. I would like to face obstacles in my life like a deer…trusting God to clear me over the fence and having faith to know that He will lift me over it when I am overcome by fear and can’t take that next step.
Psalm 18:33 says “He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He helps me stand on the highest places.” and Habakkuk 3:19 “The Sovereign Lord is my strength…He makes me as surefooted as a deer.”
A deer is firmly planted…confident…surefooted. He does not look down when he runs…but holds his head high and looks ahead. I want to be like a deer and trust God that He is placing my feet in secure places. God is ordering my steps and I want to look up and be confident that I am surefooted when I keep my gaze on Him. I am convinced that one day I will die from falling and have pneumonia set in because I’m not too surefooted! Maybe I should sit in these verses for a while!
Proverbs and Song of Solomon both compare a deer and a doe in a marriage relationship…loving each other and comparing it to Christ’s love for His church. Because I really don’t want to talk about breasts, I’m just going to ask you to trust me on this one. Love. Beauty. Tenderness. Respect.
Lastly, the first verse that comes to mind when I think of deer is Psalm 42:1 “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, my God.” I wish I always longed for God but I really like to control things (ask my kids). A deer knows that water is life giving for them. I know in my head that Christ is the only one that can fill me up. Yet I run to other things. So often I am Paul in Romans 7 “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, I do.”
I am thankful that God is less worried about my behavior and way more interested in transforming my heart to be more like His. The lie I often get sucked into is that the better I preform, the more God loves me. Hebrews 13:8 says that He never changes. That means His love never changes for me (or you)…which means that I can listen to the lies in my head or I can believe the truth of His word. Ephesians 3 says “…may you be able to feel and understand (God’s love)…how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is and to experience this love for yourselves.” The more I move towards Him and drink of His life giving water, the more I understand His love…and my heart is transformed.
God sending those deer for me to enjoy today was a reminder that He loves me. No matter what you and I have ever done or have failed to do, God loves us with an everlasting love and has a wonderful plan and purpose for your life.
And we just drank living water.
