The Pregnant Deer

In a forest, a pregnant deer is about to give birth.
She finds a remote grass field near a strong-flowing river.
This seems a safe place.
Suddenly labor pains begin.
At the same moment, dark clouds gather around above and lightning starts a forest fire.
She looks to her left and sees a hunter with his bow extended pointing at her.
To her right, she spots a hungry lion approaching her.
What can the pregnant deer do?
She is in labor!
What will happen?
Will the deer survive?
Will she give birth to a fawn?
Will the fawn survive?
Or will everything be burnt by the forest fire?
Will she perish to the hunters’ arrow?
Will she die a horrible death at the hands of the hungry lion approaching her?
She is constrained by the fire on the one side and the flowing river on the other and boxed in by her natural predators.
What does she do?
She focuses on giving birth to a new life.
The sequence of events that follows are:

• Lightning strikes and blinds the hunter.
• He releases the arrow which zips past the deer, then strikes and kills the hungry lion.
• It starts to rain heavily and the forest fire is slowly doused by the rain.
• The deer gives birth to a healthy fawn.

In our life too, there will be moments where we will encounter difficult times. Where we will be confronted on all sides and we might feel as if we have no way out, leaving us feeling totally overwhelmed. Yet, it’s precisely during these times that we must hang in there. Believing and trusting God to get us through this difficult time.

Maybe we can learn from the deer. The priority of the deer, in that given moment, was simply to give birth to a baby. The rest was not in her hands and any action or reaction that changed her focus would have likely resulted in death or disaster.

Ask yourself,
Where is your focus?
Where is your faith and hope?
In the midst of any storm, do you keep your hope and faith in God or do you just give up?
You must always remember to keep your hope and faith in God.
He will NEVER ever disappoint you.
For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 
So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
[Hebrews 13:5-6]

My beautiful Tewahedo Orthodox sister, don’t worry about things that are beyond your control. Put your faith and trust in God, because He will guide you through difficult times, and He will remove the obstacles in your path. He always does and He always will, when we put our trust in Him!