Blindsided

The title of the internet news story stood out immediately: “Leaping Antelope Knocks Couple Off Speeding Motorcycle.” Here is the story: “An antelope running across a road knocked a couple off a motorcycle as they drove through Grand Teton National Park. Park officials say 38-year-old Brady Burgess, of Garland, Utah, was driving the bike and had just passed a motorhome at 65 miles an hour when the antelope leaped and struck the motorcycle sideways Saturday. The animal knocked the couple off the bike, which fell over and slid 100 feet down U.S. 26/89/191. Forty-six-year-old Koreen Burgess was transferred Sunday from St. John’s Medical Center in Jackson to University of Utah Health Sciences Center in Salt Lake City. Her condition wasn’t immediately available. Burgess was in good condition at St. John’s. The accident closed the highway for an hour” (FoxNews.com, 6-22-09).

I must admit…my first thought after seeing the title was: “Only in Wyoming…” After all, what are the odds of this kind of a encounter happening in a state that perhaps has more uninhabited space per capita that any other? One tiny antelope and one relatively small motorcycle in a state that includes 97,818 square miles of mostly open space. Who could have expected it? The couple on the motorcycle may have never even saw what hit them until it was over.

But the more I reflected on it, the more I realized that life is a lot like this motorcycle accident. One minute, we are cruising along smoothly, enjoying the scenery, and then – BAM - we get blindsided. A serious illness or disease, a financial setback, a fractured relationship, the death of a family member or friend, or any number of other struggles knocks us off our feet and we find ourselves in the ditch, bruised and battered.

What then? We put ourselves under the care of God Who, through Christ, can heal our wounds, strengthen our resolve, and get us back on the road. The leaping antelopes of life continue to be no match for the Great Physician!

God loves you!
Mike