We sometimes run

Late last night as I drove up the street to my house I startled 4 deer.  I could see them in my headlights, heads popped up with wide eyes, white tails immediately flagged in the air and their legs started to spring into action  It was almost comical to watch them try and make the decision about which direction to run.  A couple of them started toward the back of the yard where there is a wooded area, one of them was headed to my right which is where my driveway is and one of them just stood there kind of looking back and forth at the ones that had already moved trying to decide where to go.  I carefully and slowly pulled into my driveway and the one that had decided to go that direction put on the brakes, did a 180 and started back toward the middle of the yard joining the one who didn't know where to go.  As I continued to pull up to the garage those two finally decided they better high tail it to the back of the yard to join the first two and it was a 50 yard dash to see which one could get there first.  Now I have to admit I hadn't seen any deer for a long time so they startled me just as much as I did them.  It was raining and that may have added to their confusion of the moment.  I sat in the car for a moment longer looking back toward the crab apple tree where all this commotion had started just to make sure there weren't any more deer that needed to run across my yard before I got out of the car to walk to the house.  Sure enough there was one straggler - not sure where she came from, maybe she even came from across the street in the neighbor's yard, but she went running through the yard and joined the other four.  Because is was raining I didn't exactly see where they went, but I'm sure they found a place to hide in the bushes or wooded area behind my house.  Later when I was safe and dry in the house I thought about that moment when the deer were trying to decide where to run and it made me realize we are just like them.  Sometimes we run too - from heartache, from fear, from decisions or responsibilities - the reasons we run are numerous and just like those deer we try to decide where to run to.  Are we going to take the quickest route to where we think it's safe and yet find that something is coming straight at us like the one who headed into the driveway only to have me maneuver the car there and present an obstacle.  Are we going to just stand their wide eyed looking at where others are going, not quite sure what to do and then finally realize we need to make a decision for our own good.  Are we like the straggler who came out of no where and we're not even sure what we're running from or where we're running to; we're just running because we saw the others running.  Or do we do what the first two did, we go straight to the safe place, the place where there is shelter.  God can be that safe place for us, that shelter.  Instead of running into obstacles, instead of standing there wide eyed and not knowing what to do, instead of running just because others are running, we can go straight to God and find shelter, because our Heavenly Father loves us and cares for us.