One evening, years ago, in the Oak Knoll area of Austin, I was taking a bike ride. I had helped get my 3 preschoolers to bed and needed some exercise and solitude for a few moments. It was in the last minutes of dusk that I took a quick pedal in an effort to sweat a little and let the cooling air peel off a layer or two of the day’s tensions from a demanding day of ministry. After a few moments pedaling and praying, I heard a strange sound behind me, like hooves on the black top. I turned around to see not one, but three young bucks with ample, but not huge, racks running behind me. I had heard about bike riders being knocked off their bikes by deer crossing the road, but I had never heard of deer chasing a bike down the street. I got a little nervous knowing how fast deer were capable of running (25-30 mph). I wondered if they would overtake and unseat me. I don’t know if these three saw me on my bike in the dimly lit street as a rival, or maybe they were just spooked and I happened to be in the path of their escape route. For whatever reason, it felt like several minutes that these deer followed me, though it probably was not more than several seconds. Even when I made a turn to a side street in an effort to get out of their way, the deer still followed me. Finally, the three bucks made a sudden turn through someone’s side yard and then, as quickly as they had appeared, they were gone. For several weird moments these young bucks had been running half speed, about 10 yards behind me. I felt nervous, but invigorated and grateful to have had this curious brush with nature in Texas suburbia. I came home and excitedly told my ATX hippodrome bicycle vs.hoofed ruminant varmint odyssey to my understandably skeptical wife.
Deer are mentioned several places in God’s Word, but my mind was drawn to the words of the Psalmist who says, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:1–2) While I sought some moments with God while pedaling, panting, and praying, it felt like God had allowed me to experience something so special, that I had to at least consider the fact that He had seen and heard me and was glad to be with me in those moments of solitude. Granted, it was no burning bush like Moses had experienced, but I still ponder that experience all these years later with thankfulness of getting to meet with Him in a unique way.
Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!
