I was sitting in my office pondering potential topics for my next column when a deer happened to stroll right past the window.
Of course, there are deer all over the place in our neck of the woods, but they typically only venture close to our house after dark, when they dine on my flowers and then, I imagine, brazenly stroll onto our front porch, rock in our rocking chairs, smoke a few cigarettes, and shoot the breeze.
Back when I was a city slicker, I usually only saw deer when they were hanging as trophies on someone’s wall or lying dead on the side of a road. But now that I’ve seen them alive and in their native habitat, I realize what incredibly paranoid and neurotic creatures they are.
Sometimes as I’ve watched them out in our pasture, I imagine their conversations …
“Wow, this grass is excellent, don’t you think? Wait, did you hear that? Did it come from over there … or from back there behind us? Did you hear it? Huh? Did you?”
“Wait, what? Yeah, I think I did. So do you think somebody’s aiming at us? Why can’t we eat in peace?! Is that too much to ask? But no, we can’t relax out here for even a minute or we’ll end up on somebody’s tacky paneled wall. Sheesh. So now I don’t hear anything. Wow, you’re right … (munch, munch) … this grass is to die for. Oh wait, let me rephrase that … .”
Deer had attention deficit disorder before it was even a thing. They seem to never stand still for long. They’re always on edge, always looking around, never able to enjoy what’s in front of them because they’re so, so skittish.
Reminds me of some people I know. Fear and anxiety have reached epidemic proportions, as has the depression that can result if we leave those issues unresolved.
There’s no doubt this world can be a scary place, and all the scary stuff is posted and streamed on our screens 24 hours a day. Our ancestors may have had to deal with plagues, famines and marauding bands of pillagers, but at least they didn’t have cable news or social media.
There are medications available to treat the symptoms of anxiety, but what about the underlying issues? I think a healthy fear of God and trust in His Word are the best tools available for grabbing the roots of our fears and yanking them from our hearts.
Oswald Chambers, the very wise author of the classic devotional book, “My Utmost for His Highest,” said, “The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”
A healthy fear of God includes reverence and respect for who He is, what He says, and what He can do. If our hearts are aligned with His through faith in Jesus Christ and we walk in His truth, trust His immense power, and embrace His incomprehensible love for us, we will find the comfort and peace we so desperately seek.
God doesn’t want His children acting like the proverbial “deer in the headlights,” but rather to believe His words in Isaiah 41:10: “‘Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’”
Perfectly blending motivation, instruction and hope, God Almighty gives us all we need to live courageously in these scary times.
“In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?” – Psalm 56:4