Saturday morning’s hike got off to a good start. Almost immediately I saw four deer in two settings. 

Radar predicted rain at 10:15 AM so I started back to our campsite to beat the storm front. It was going to be close, so I asked the Lord to let me get back to camp before the rain. 

Then I started thinking about the Syrian refugees, and how selfish my prayer was. I told the Lord to just pour down rain on me because I am such a self-centered, selfish man. 

Not two minutes later 11 deer, including two bucks, appeared in the middle of the trail. Then they loped off to my left, white tails bobbing up and down through the wire grass. 

They began to walk parallel to me at a distance of about 100 yards for the next several minutes. One buck stood still long enough for me to count eight points, and the other was about the same size.

Apparently they wanted to be on the other side of the trail, so suddenly they started hopping across the trail in front of me one at a time – that’s how I knew there were 11 of them. 

Praise to the Lord for allowing me to see the majesty of His creation in this way. 

My thoughts returned to the refugees.

 I sensed the Lord speaking to my heart, “I will take care of the refugees.”

And then to punctuate that His love and care for me is not dependent on the rest of the world being treated equally at every moment, four more deer jumped across the trail. 

The 19th and final deer was a baby fawn who stopped to stare at me as his parents ran away. 

To top it off, I arrived back at our campsite just before it started to rain.

We don’t have to feel guilty when we’re blessed, even if others are suffering. God is sovereignly orchestrating all human events. In His inscrutable way, He will take care of the refugees – and everyone else who is suffering too. How much in this life or whether the next, it is not for us to say. But we can use our blessings as a reminder to pray for those who are less fortunate.