It’s amazing how some of the best sermons are preached by the behavior of animals. This story recorded in several newspapers as well as other blog sights relate a powerful truth.
Trey Copeland of Outdoorzy.com explained it this way…
“Tom Satre told the Sitka Gazette that he was out with a charter group on his 62-foot fishing vessel when four juvenile black-tailed deer swam directly toward his boat. “Once the deer reached the boat, the four began to circle the boat, looking directly at us.
We could tell right away that the young bucks were distressed. I opened up my back gate and we helped the typically skittish and absolutely wild animals onto the boat. In all my years fishing, I’ve never seen anything quite like it! “Once on-board, they collapsed with exhaustion, shivering. We headed for Taku Harbor.
Once we reached the dock, the first buck that we had pulled from the water hopped onto the dock, looked back as if to say ‘thank you’ and disappeared into the forest.” After a bit of prodding and assistance, two more followed, but the smallest deer needed a little more help (that’s him in the wheelbarrow).
His daughter, Anna, and son, Tim, helped the last buck to its feet. Tom said, “We didn’t know how long they had been in the icy waters or if there had been others who did not survive.” Tom concluded by saying,” My daughter later told me that the experience was something that she would never forget, and I suspect the deer felt the same way as well!”
The deer did not let their fear keep them from rescue. They were literally in over their heads and needed someone with a solution to their dilemma. Unlike humans, their pride did not keep them from seeking help. Neither did fear stifle them. How many times do we get into overwhelming circumstances and fail to cry out for help?
The pastor part of me sees more clearly in this story the meaning of the passage, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
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