I am a hunter. Some people think hunters must not care about deer… but quite the opposite. Hunters typically are nature lovers who have a respect for animals. Of course, there are certain people who will shoot anything that moves and not care, but those people are “killers”… not hunters. So, that’s why when I shot an 8-point this week and couldn’t find it… it was very upsetting to me. Seemed like a beautiful buck wasted… at my hand.
ANYWAY… brother Jon came out to help me track (thanks, Jon!! You’re awesome…), seeing how the rest of my “home team” was out of town in one place or another. At first, the blood was very light (typical as they bolt) and we were searching hard for each spot. Then it became very heavy… to the point of just walking along at a good pace next to the blood trail. At that point, our spirits became optimistic and our conversation was something like “yeah!! This is what we’re looking for!!”… but when the trail got sparse again, I was getting frustrated and Jon told me that the tracking… the search… was his favorite part. Me?? I want to go straight from the shot to the prize. We kept following and the trail got heavier again… then down to just a few small spots… and then it stopped. We stood there with our flashlights… searching intently in the dark in every possible direction for a clue as to which way the trail led. After a long search, brother Jon said “getting kinda quiet out here…” and I told him I was very discouraged. We had followed the blood trail for 2 hours… and then it stopped. We couldn’t find any more blood to tell us what direction this buck had gone… so we called it a night at 10:30.
I went back yesterday and re-walked our toilet-paper-marked-trail… looking for any pattern in the trail that would give me a clue what direction he was heading. As I was literally down on my hands and knees looking for the next drop of blood… searching every leaf and blade of grass for any clue as to which way the blood trail led to my “prize”… a thought crossed my mind very clearly that I want to share with you. I asked myself how often I search THIS HARD for the path God wants me on in my life. Do I put as much effort, intensity and passion into finding God’s will as I have in finding this deer?? Do I take time periodically to look back and re-evaluate the path I’ve been on thus far?? How often do I dig into His word… pray… study… keep my ears and eyes open to where he wants to lead me to the ultimate prize of hearing Him say “well done good and faithful servant”?? Life can be like tracking deer. Sometimes the trail is very obvious and easy to follow… and other times, it’s less clear. At times, it may appear to have no direction whatsoever and it can be very discouraging. But during those times, do we get down on our hands and knees before God?? Do we search desperately for any sign of which direction He wants us to take??Are we willing to walk through the briars, the thick stuff, to crawl under, over and around anything in our way to find His direction?? Do we treasure the search?? Or just want to head straight for the prize.
9 hours later, utterly exhausted, scratched up, and bruised… I never did find that deer. Breaks my heart. Seems like this buck’s life was wasted then… but maybe not totally after all. God works in mysterious ways, they say… I guess it’s true.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
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