Instinct

Another groundhog met its grim fate beneath the wheels of my truck today. I always feel a bit of remorse when I hit an animal, but today I felt responsible for the untimely death of this wayfaring woodchuck. You see, there's an abundance of groundhogs here in western Maryland, and I've been noticing a trend among those that have been found in front of my truck: their instinct causes them to run back to where they come from when they sense danger.

Today as I came upon my victim, I saw it crossing from the right to the left. As it neared the left side of the road, it noticed me bearing down on it...and ran back to where it had come from, crossing right into my path. I had a feeling it was going to do that, but I didn't slow down in time.

Squirrels, rabbits, woodchucks and others all seem to take this suicidal path their instincts tell them leads to safety. I don't know if it's the remorse of this event that caused me to become retrospective today, but I began to think about how often I've been tempted to do the same. In tough times in Ireland, my thoughts were constantly drawn back to the security of my friends in Indiana. During our challenges here in Maryland with our transition, we've been drawn back to the security of our home and friends in Ireland. My fear instinct always draws me back to where I think it's safer.

Having said that, we have the ability to over-ride our fears. I wonder how many times I've missed out on something really good for me or someone else because my fear convinced me to pursue what I thought was the safe option? At this point in our lives, Brenda and I are making the decision to move forward even as I deal with the anxieties we face. There is something (Someone) compelling us to move forward.

"Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe" (Proverbs 29:25). I would add that fear in general can be a trap. How many of us base our life decisions on fear? How many followers of Christ allow our fear to convince us that security and safety should be our number one pursuit?

The lesson of the groundhog for me today is simple: don't let your fear take you back to a place offering only false security.

"Jesus said, 'Anyone who begins to plow a field but keeps looking back is of no use in the kingdom of God'" (Luke 9:62).