Another Flash of Brown

There's nothing quite like the soft rumble your motorcycle makes as you negotiate the curves of a back road - nothing quite like the feel of the cool wind as it rushes past. I was exulting in the experience this morning on my way to work. It was just a beautiful morning to ride.

Suddenly I was arrested by a thought. I had just passed a dangerous stretch of road, and I had not even paid attention to it. I wrote about this deer-infested patch of road in an earlier post. But after having seen deer in that stretch of road several times, this morning I was oblivious and wasn't paying attention as I drove it.

"Is there a lesson in that, Lord?" I prayed as I motored on down the road. Then just ahead I saw that familiar flash of brown. But this time it wasn't moving - it was dead along the side of the road. The King had my attention now, so I thought about the experience the rest of the way in to work.

It is so easy to become complacent in the Christian life. Especially when our lives are happy and healthy and problem free. When we hurt, we talk to God about it. When we are sick, we ask for health and seek the Great Physician. When our marriages are broken, or our friends and families are fractured, we run straight to the One Who can fix them.

But when things are calm, when our lives feel safe, when we feel the cool breeze blowing across our faces - that's when we are in danger of letting down our guard and falling flat on our faces. That dead deer was a neon sign to me this morning - you are in most danger when you become complacent. Paul, that great warrior of the faith, put it well, "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" (1 Corinthians 10:12 NIV)

Are things going well for you, my friend? At such times, praise God for His goodness, and pray to Him for His protection. We need to pray one for another just as much during the good times as during the bad. Our newly initiated Wednesday Evening Prayer Meetings are based on this principle - we pray for each other, whether we have stated needs or not. We pray hardest for those who are on the mountaintop. We'll meet this Wednesday at 6:30 and do that very thing. Join us.