We’ve all had them—those suddenly moments. “Suddenly,” often in the blink of an eye, our world changes. My beloved and I had one of those yesterday.

It was a bright, beautiful fall afternoon. Traffic was moderately heavy on the four lane street at the edge of town. In the curb lane, we moved along at the posted speed limit when “suddenly” a young buck deer bounded onto the highway from a nearby stand of manicured shrubs and small trees. “Suddenly” the creature was within inches of my front grill and then a crunch as we heard it collide with the rear end of the car in the passing lane next to us.

Traffic slowed, I glanced into the rear view mirror. A man stopped his vehicle and got out to survey the damage. Thankfully, it appeared no one was injured. I winched as I watched the deer wobble and stumble, a back leg broken by the impact. Somehow, he managed to get off the highway without further incident.

And then I started to cry, as much from the shock of the near miss, as well as sadness for the wounded animal. How, we wondered, did this magnificent creature end up in such a populated suburban area? While we’ll never have the answer to that question, the entire event was a fresh reminder of two life principles: #1] It only takes a moment for your world to be rocked by a “suddenly”; and #2] For all the control we may think we have over the details of our world, there really are forces at work beyond our comprehension or understanding.

Interestingly enough, the word “suddenly” appears approximately 1,950 times [depending on the translation] in Scripture. A suddenly of every sort—painful, joyful, happy, sad, glad, heaven-sent, hell-driven—they plunge the individual or the group into an experience unlike the previous moment. How the recipients respond is as varied as the diversity of humanity itself.

The longer we live the more we become aware we can’t change or prevent most suddenly moments:

  • words of a serious health diagnosis
  • a text from a heartbroken child
  • the sudden death of a close friend

On the other hand, we can remind ourselves of the wonderful, joyful suddenly:

  • news of a family pregnancy
  • a raise or unexpected promotion
  • the cloudburst that refreshes the parched soil

I can still see the image of the wounded deer and it breaks my heart. At the same time, there is great consolation for the soon-to-follow suddenly moment of deep gratitude that all of us were spared an outcome that could have been so much worse. [A side note—after a bit of research I am comforted by the fact many deer in the wild with broken legs can heal and return to a near normal existence.]

How do I feel about the “suddenly” moments in my life?

Do I tend to focus on the darker “suddenly” and overlook the good “suddenly”?

Am I open to trusting God with all the “suddenly” moments?