“…In quietness and trust is your strength…” (Is. 30:15 NIV)

Spring is the season of new beginnings, and it can also be a time for gleaning some of the most valuable life lessons from nature. For though they use no words, they continue to testify of God’s glory (See Psalms 19:3-4).

I looked outside the window one Saturday morning and saw a spotted fawn tucked into the grass, sitting still, as if in deep thought. Its mother camouflaged the young one to keep it safe from predators, while she went off to forage. The young deer at this point has not developed strong legs to run if attacked, hence staying put where it was placed was its safety. The mother might leave the fawn alone for hours at a time and may even take a day or two before she moves it to a different location.

Although I found myself being drawn to this fawn, from experience I knew that I should not approach the young deer as it would jeopardize its safety. It was kept there for a purpose. Even as the hours passed, the youngling continued to lay quietly, with seemingly no question in its mind about being abandoned. Despite my apprehension towards this helpless creature, the mother deer did come back at some point after nightfall to take it’s young one into safety. That’s when I had a teachable moment from the Lord.

Has He who put the instinct of quietness and trust in the heart of a young deer, not taught me the same? Does He who promised to never abandon, not come and find us when we are waiting for Him? It’s an unbelieving and perverse generation that lives without faith (See Matthew 17:17). This fawn can do very little without its mother. The dependency creates trust which in turn leads to the stillness of the soul before the Lord. God commands us to be still and KNOW who He is (See Psalms 46:10). Christ came to give us every spiritual blessing we could never gain for ourselves. As we behold Christ amid our earthly circumstances, there is a spiritual strength that is added to us which enables us to rely confidently on the Lord.

Christian life and growth accelerate in the waiting, if we learn to wait the right way! Are we learning to wait for the hope we have with patience and composure? We wait because Christ is always with us though He may choose to remove all evidence of the same. We have a LIVING Savior who is interceding on our behalf, in all manners of prayer so that we will be kept in His power. He who knows every part of our lives can accomplish ALL THINGS concerning us. How then can we not rest in Him? Though our cares be many and our conflicts insurmountable, the Lord our eternal refuge can shield and deliver us. Even if the predator of our souls is lurking in the dark, ready to attack us any moment, our Master’s eternal patronage is our assurance.

Those who belong to Christ are called to enter a rest: “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God…” (Hebrews 4:9 NIV), and it is possible to do so through faith in Him and by refusing to rest in anything outside of Him whether it be self or the world. We rest in His Word which endures forever. We rest in His character and His steadfast love. He gives strength which is not according to the flesh but is born of God. Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for: “Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.” (Psalms 62:5 NIV)

Nisha Ajit George