Have you ever gone for a nature walk and come across some of God’s creation? Or looked out the window of your home to find a deer grazing in your yard? Have you ever taken the time to enjoy the beauty and wonder that is all around? Life can get sticky at times and we lose sight of what is right in front of us. Sometimes it feels like the sticky side of the envelop flap and it won’t quite adhere to itself! Its moist and tacky but not enough or too much to form a bond.
With this life, we find that God is in pursuit of His most beloved creation, you. He sent His only Son into the world and it was for you (John 3:16). He comes in the cool of the day to find you and call out “where are you (Genesis 3: 8-9)?” Yes, He pursues His creation. And when He finds you He makes a habitation with you (John 14: 23).
God is in the business of his creation. Often the wooded trail around my neighborhood, I can come across a deer or two. Why? Because it is in the cool of the day when the sun is just dawning. The birds are serenading His creation with praises to Heaven’s Champion, the Redeemer, Jesus the Christ! Yes, it is the chill of the morning when the dew drops, the fog hovers, and the blades of grass are shimmering as glades of light rise to the occasion of the new day.
In these moments, I can often run across: deer, ducks, geese, cardinals, robins, squirrels, foxes, and the occasional human. Yes, it is a time where I listen, pray, sing, and just observe in the moment. I enjoy it. Every so often I’ll find a deer right on the edge of the path chewing on some grass as I walk right on by and no thought of running comes into the moment. It’s then I think of David’s words: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God (Psalm 42:1-2a)…” Yes, that internal desire is searching and is reaffirmed by His creation that He is right there with me and you.
Other days I trek a different path and nothing is standing on the perimeter of the trail. No, just the birds singing their praises… but is God still there? The songs of the birds tells me He is there because they lift their voices from the branches (Psalms 104:12). Even though I can’t see Him, He is still there. Can you hear the birds?
Tommy Tenney once called it God Chasing. Sometimes when you were growing up, you played a game called, ‘hide and seek’. Yes, your daddy would count to 10 as you ran off to hide in some awesome place. Shortly after your daddy said “10” you heard the footsteps as the hunt commenced. He played coy so as not to hear your giggles and laughter at your awesome hiding place. But after a few seconds he swooped in and grabbed you up into his arms!
Then it became your turn… The counting to 10 seemed so long and the time he could run and hide was ‘forever!’ But just then you would speed up the count, begin to peek, yet see nothing at all. You listened and heard nothing… you prowled around assuring yourself he was hiding behind your door! But as you blazed in and screamed ‘I got you!’ You find an empty hiding place. Just then you’d hear a cough and the pursuit took full flight again!
Rounding the corner and into the hallway you knew where he was! He’s in the laundry room hiding behind the swinging tavern doors. You heart gladdens. Your step is quick. Sounds are still except for the pounding of your feet. Just then you stopped. Boom! And you listened once more… Nothing sounded was he still there? Just as you were about to move away, you saw a slight movement in the light that was shining through the swinging doors and you jumped in proclaiming, “I got you!”
Again daddy scooped you up with a warm and big hug delighted from your pursuit! The joy in both of your hearts flooded the house and momma was enjoying it too. Just like your daddy opens a way for you to find him, the Father in heaven, He keeps us coming back to Him. It is a game of hide and seek. Just like a walk in the cool of the morning… His deer is along the trailside grazing on the grass… then other times His deer is off in the trees chewing on new buds looking back through the camouflage waiting to be seen.
Don’t despair. Don’t give up the pursuit. Stay the course and stop, look, and listen.
Godspeed, The Journeyman
Ps. I often see deer during my walks and I take those as little moments of the Lord reassuring me He is there. Today’s walk, I found the deer standing in the midst of the trail looking back as I smiled and said, “I see you!”
Genesis 3: 9 NASB1995 “They heard the sound of the LORD GOD walking in the garden in the cool of the day… Then the LORD GOD called to the man, and said to him, ‘where are you?’”
Psalms 42: 1 NASB1995 ““As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God…”
Psalms 104: 12 NASB1995 “Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they lift up their voices among the branches.”
John 3: 16 NASB1995 “For God so loved t he world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
John 14: 23 NASB1995 “…If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word: and My Father will love him and make Our abode with him.”
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