Don't Step on the Alligator

I am a native "Texan" and love to visit the great outdoors in Texas. Fortunately, I live in a state that has over 130 parks spread across the great state. I recently made a visit to the Brazos Bend State Park, near Houston, Texas. The park is a diverse combination of wetlands, marshes, lakes, prairies, and live oak forests. I took over 700 photographs during my visit! This park is a nature preserve with over 300 species of birds and animals, and is home to over 1000 American alligators! I don't recommend taking your pets with you to this park. This is not a park for the squeamish. I was only five or ten minutes into my hike when I spotted what looked like a couple of logs on the side of the trail. As I got closer I could see that it was actually a couple of alligators lounging at the edge of the trail.

I quickly realized that I should have read the warning sign at the start of the trail. Fortunately I had taken a picture of the sign. I quickly went back through the pictures on my digital camera and read the "rules of engagement" for alligators! The rules stated that you need to stay at least 30 feet from any alligator, or risk getting attacked! Great advice, but it's kind of difficult to stay 30 foot away from the alligator that is at the edge of a 6 foot wide trail, with a swamp on one side and a lake on the other side! I looked around for a big stick but there were none to be found (I'm sure that all the sticks had already been picked up by other cautious hikers)! I took a deep breath and started walking slowly, on the opposite side of the trail. I wanted to stay as far away from the alligators as I could, however I didn't want to get too close to the marsh on the other side of the trail. The alligators remained motionless although their eyes were open and seemed to follow me as I quietly walked by. These two alligators were only the first of hundreds of alligators that I saw during my three hour hike. It was like one of the kids puzzles where you try to see if you can spot all the animals in a photo. You could stop at almost any place on the trail and pick out six or seven alligators sunning on the bank or camouflaged by the green algae floating in the water.

I almost stepped on the biggest alligator that I saw during my hike. I was walking quietly trying to get closer to a Snowy Egret. The egret kept moving along the edge of a slough searching for its next meal. Occasionally I would glance at the ground to see where I was walking. I guess I was focused too intently on getting a picture of the Egret, because the next time I looked down at the ground I realized that I had walked within a couple feet of the biggest alligator I had seen that day! I immediately froze as my eyes met his. He was staring at me, probably just daring me to take another step. I slowly backed up and out of his "personal space". I decided that I needed to maintain a more frequent monitoring of the big picture if I was to exit the park safely!

In life's journey we sometime have too narrow of a focus. We only seeing the trials and problems at hand. We fail to keep the "big picture" of life in focus, just as I was too focused on getting a picture of the Snowy Egret and failed to see the alligator in my path. It's our human nature to dwell on the negative things. It's also easy to get overwhelmed by these negative thoughts.

The prophet Elisha's servant was very disturbed one morning when he woke up and saw that their city was surrounded by the Syrian horseman and chariots. The servant was so focused on the Syrian army that he did not see God's horses and chariots of fire on the mountains behind the Syrians. It wasn't until Elisha prayed for him, that he was able to see the "big picture", including God's army.

So, the next time you feel overwhelmed by life's trials and problems, just take a time out and try to look at the big picture. Think about where God has brought you from and where he has promised to take you too.

In Philippians 4:8 Paul admonishes us to think upon things that are: "true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. He further tells us that when we think of these thing, that the God of peace will be with you!