Where the Deer Gather
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the tops of tails can be seen through the bathroom windoe
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The challenge was that we didn’t know what to pray specifically. We had dream homes we were believing for, but didn’t know if this was the timing for those. What we knew is that our current residence needed too much work and resources for us to stay. However, there were some things we liked about where we were. So, we began to thank God for what we liked about where we lived.
Although born in, and spending some childhood in rural Virginia, my wife spent a |
Collect Them All
lot of her upbringing in a suburban neighborhood. She thanked God for a big yard but preferred to be closer to the street. She loved the big house and believed God that our next place would still be conducive to entertaining.
I loved the nature. All kinds of birds visited us. Groundhogs, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits---all shared our residence. The most wonderful thing were the deer. Deer aren’t the animal that I want to see in my headlights, driving down a country street, but playing in the yard their presence is pleasant. Often, they would gather in our front yard, sometimes in herds of ten or more.
We found a house. Almost the first one we looked. My wife believed, we would be in our new house before Christmas. Unbeknownst to us, it was a week before that we were inside, touring it. Everything went smoothed with the transaction, and by the end of January, we were moving in.
It was February, my youngest daughter and I was sitting on the ledge of the bay window of our kitchen. It overlooks our deck, backyard, and a patch of trees---separating us from the development across the path. Breaking our conversation and pointing, my daughter exclaimed, “Dad what is that?”
I looked and there moving in the dusk, a deer. Its cotton-like, bushy, tail stood out first, contrasted against the brown winter lawn. “Praise God, I answered back, that’s one of the things, I believed for. That’s a confirmation of our move.”
I am amazed. God’s signature, on His answering of our prayers, is not just answering our prayers to the letter. God, as El Shaddai, one of His descriptive names, always answers more than enough---the meaning of that name. My daughter pointed out the window again, “Dad look.”
Apparently, there was not just a lone deer, but there were at least three. It looked like a family. As If God's ways of confirmation are not joyous and miraculous enough, He continued. Like a lot of suburban communities, where we live, the developments are cut from previous woods where wildlife live. So, it could be said, no big deal, deer are everywhere. “How is that a confirmation or answer to prayer?”
I met one of my neighbors several days later. He had lived in his house quite a few years. We talked about the neighborhood. I asked him about the deer. He acknowledged, he had seen them the same night we had. I asked, how often do they show up? He replied that it was the first time they had been seen. I rejoiced. God sent the deer to confirm His Word to me.
God doesn’t always have to create what you need, but he knows how to move it your way. A scripture quoted a lot---
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.—Romans 8:28
---is sometimes interpreted to mean God is working trouble for our good. God can cause "the script to be flipped" in many things. He does cause troublesome situations to be turned into that which ends up helping us. However, when we back up a step and refocus.
All things working together for our good, speaks of the whole cosmos---universe included. When we understand this scripture, we become more conscious of how much God loves us. At that place, we abound in His grace the more. Romans 8:19 says----
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Translation---the whole creation, cosmos, nature, and the environment is waiting for God’s sons to be all we have been born again to be. This reality will be revealed for eternity “in us” at the coming of Christ, but still real “in us”---right now, as His representatives on this earth.
So not only did God use the deer to confirm His Word to my family, but perhaps they came to see sons of God who had come into their neighborhood. And not to resist the play on words, we do manifest what the Holy Spirit, through Apostle Paul commands all saints.
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear [deer] children---Ephesians 5:1
We hadn’t seen the deer all summer. On vacation, I gather. Saturday morning, the last weekend in October, the deer family returned. If they are a reminder of God’s promises to my family, I’ll take it. Reciprocally, we’re happy to be a reminder to them.
I loved the nature. All kinds of birds visited us. Groundhogs, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits---all shared our residence. The most wonderful thing were the deer. Deer aren’t the animal that I want to see in my headlights, driving down a country street, but playing in the yard their presence is pleasant. Often, they would gather in our front yard, sometimes in herds of ten or more.
We found a house. Almost the first one we looked. My wife believed, we would be in our new house before Christmas. Unbeknownst to us, it was a week before that we were inside, touring it. Everything went smoothed with the transaction, and by the end of January, we were moving in.
It was February, my youngest daughter and I was sitting on the ledge of the bay window of our kitchen. It overlooks our deck, backyard, and a patch of trees---separating us from the development across the path. Breaking our conversation and pointing, my daughter exclaimed, “Dad what is that?”
I looked and there moving in the dusk, a deer. Its cotton-like, bushy, tail stood out first, contrasted against the brown winter lawn. “Praise God, I answered back, that’s one of the things, I believed for. That’s a confirmation of our move.”
I am amazed. God’s signature, on His answering of our prayers, is not just answering our prayers to the letter. God, as El Shaddai, one of His descriptive names, always answers more than enough---the meaning of that name. My daughter pointed out the window again, “Dad look.”
Apparently, there was not just a lone deer, but there were at least three. It looked like a family. As If God's ways of confirmation are not joyous and miraculous enough, He continued. Like a lot of suburban communities, where we live, the developments are cut from previous woods where wildlife live. So, it could be said, no big deal, deer are everywhere. “How is that a confirmation or answer to prayer?”
I met one of my neighbors several days later. He had lived in his house quite a few years. We talked about the neighborhood. I asked him about the deer. He acknowledged, he had seen them the same night we had. I asked, how often do they show up? He replied that it was the first time they had been seen. I rejoiced. God sent the deer to confirm His Word to me.
God doesn’t always have to create what you need, but he knows how to move it your way. A scripture quoted a lot---
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.—Romans 8:28
---is sometimes interpreted to mean God is working trouble for our good. God can cause "the script to be flipped" in many things. He does cause troublesome situations to be turned into that which ends up helping us. However, when we back up a step and refocus.
All things working together for our good, speaks of the whole cosmos---universe included. When we understand this scripture, we become more conscious of how much God loves us. At that place, we abound in His grace the more. Romans 8:19 says----
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Translation---the whole creation, cosmos, nature, and the environment is waiting for God’s sons to be all we have been born again to be. This reality will be revealed for eternity “in us” at the coming of Christ, but still real “in us”---right now, as His representatives on this earth.
So not only did God use the deer to confirm His Word to my family, but perhaps they came to see sons of God who had come into their neighborhood. And not to resist the play on words, we do manifest what the Holy Spirit, through Apostle Paul commands all saints.
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear [deer] children---Ephesians 5:1
We hadn’t seen the deer all summer. On vacation, I gather. Saturday morning, the last weekend in October, the deer family returned. If they are a reminder of God’s promises to my family, I’ll take it. Reciprocally, we’re happy to be a reminder to them.
Terrence Clark is the founder and Chief Editor of the Voice of One CNC magazine. He is also the author of How to Predict the Future and How Great is God?
