March 2010

Psalm 42: 1-4  As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.

Lifeline’s Administrative Assistant Cindy Trulock advised me on my recent trip to Nashville, Tennessee, to be particularly careful as I traveled from Camilla, Georgia to Arlington, Georgia. She also cautioned me to take extra care as I drove from the intersection of GA 216 and highway 37 into Arlington. Thank God, not only for Cindy’s foresight, but for me remembering her specific warnings.

I encountered not one, but nine different Georgia whitetails after leaving Camilla. I had left Thomasville about 4:30 AM and evidently just in time to reach the “land of deer” as they began the morning journey back into the woods.

My second encounter was almost identical to the first one. One deer stopping in the middle of the road and glaring at my headlights for a moment before crossing to the other side. The other deer would hesitate on the shoulder and then dart out in front of me following the first deer into the woods.

After the third encounter, I realized that we as Christian men often mirror these deer’s activity. The leader heads into danger and then the crowd blindly follows.

As Christian men, we in leadership need to pray and study God’s word much more than we do. I am afraid that much too often we carelessly and without preparation dart into dangerous territories not realizing that there are those who will blindly follow.

As I encountered the deer, for some reason I thought of the 42nd Psalm. As we arrived at our first seminar in Nashville, the speaker called our attention to the 42nd Psalm. I do not believe that was a coincidence but rather a conferment of my experience earlier that morning and that’s the way I see it.

iHs

Griff