Posted: Wednesday, September 1, 2010 10:12 pm

Deer teach lesson about best-laid plans
Years ago, when I was a young pastor going to seminary at Vandy and trying to live off the land (I was too broke to do much else), I built, with my own sweat,  a small log home between Bellevue and Kingston Springs.

Down in the bottom of my five acres running along a normally dry creek bed, I planted my garden. It was a pretty good sized garden with corn, beans, okra, leafy greens and all sorts of squashes and tomatoes. My plan was to eat what was fresh to fuel my summer log splitting (I had only a woodstove for heat) and then can and freeze the rest for the winter.

But you know what they say about the best-laid plans. Well, just as the garden came into its fullness and I started to harvest the fruits of my labor, a doe and twin fawns discovered its richness as well. Every morning, before heading out for class, I would chase them out of the garden. And every night after dinner, the dogs and I would walk down and try to keep them at bay until it was time to turn in.

The problem, however, was all those hours between when I went to bed and the sun rose. During that period of time three deer can wreak havoc on a good-sized garden. Besides, the fawns were so cute!

So I developed a plan. I put an electric fence (a single cattle wire) around most of my garden. I figured I had enough inside the wire and the momma and her babies could be strengthened by what was outside the wire.

Another good plan, right?

 At first it seemed to be an effective answer to my problems, but as the summer wore on and the heat intensified and the rains disappeared, my plan fell apart. One morning I caught the whole family blissfully munching away inside the wire. Not only had the babies grown big and strong enough to jump the wire, but when I compared their side to my side, there was no comparison. You see, I had weeded my side. I had de-bugged and even on occasion watered the wilting plants. But, I had not done any work on the deer side. I had not expanded my energies beyond the wire that separated the two parcels.

Dr. Joey Jeter tells a very similar story of an event that took place with him in Africa but his story involves a donkey, not a few deer. And it was from reading about his experience years later that I learned the lesson God was trying to teach me with the deer. Now I share it with you.

It is one thing to make a commitment, the right commitment once. It is something else to make that same commitment day after day as time moves on and life circumstances change.

Consider with me how many times our follow through has fallen far short of our initial commitment. How man diets have I started? How many times have I begun an exercise routine? How many times have I started over with someone who irritates me? How many times did I say, “Yes, Lord”? And how many times did I see those commitments through to their natural end?  

As I remember, Jesus said something about not grabbing the plow unless you are ready to do the work, didn’t he?

Just another thought from the shallows….