Sitting in a deer blind yesterday morning, I was observing Gods creation. The sun how it knows what time to come up, the trees how the know when to change, and the peacefulness of the open mountain air as it over takes the quiet plains. Then there is every small detail; from the woodland creatures to the color of the leaves. It’s hard not to see God in the place. I also got to pondering, how God teaches us through these woods. I know I may sound crazy, but maybe you can relate.
Jesus teaches us through bow hunting simple things in life. He first of all teaches us patiences of our own life. You have to wait upon the Lord literally in bow hunting. You never know when or where a deer may cross your path. It’s the same in life. You have to wait upon the Lord when you ask him for a blessing. You have to trust in him like you trust your arrow to hit you target. Now that’s unwavering faith. He tells us if we have the Faith of a mustard seed, we could move a mountain. How you ever seen a mustard seed? I wish I could have half of that faith at times. But in the end it’s never easy to wait upon the Lord or even to trust at times, but when you do big things happen.
He always teaches us strength. If you have never pulled back a compound bow, then you don’t understand how hard it is to hold it there for a long period of time. Your arm starts to shake a little, but you can’t move because the deer will see you shaking. They when will run off and you will not get the chance to shoot. If you don’t hold it long enough and shoot to early you can miss the shot. God tells us the same thing. He says our strength comes from him and if we wait and trust him he will guide all of our plans he has for us. So in other words; if we allow him to draw back our bows for us, we will always hit the target.
Last but certainly not least, he teaches us about defeat and victory. Sometimes the Lord has to test us. He has to see how much we truly trust him. Sometimes he will place a deer us too far out of shooting range. He’s trying to teach us patiences for it to move closer, but we get to excited and shoot anyways. The deer then runs off never to come back. It’s just like that in everyday life. Sometimes God wants us to wait for that new house, new job, or even that simple blessing he has for us; but we get anxious and our human doubt kicks in. We wonder why we had to have that blessing taken or even passed by us. We get angry and irrational. And sometimes we even run from God after that. But that’s when he teaches us victory. You see he often tells us, “My child be still.”. We think he’s joking, but when we sit still for awhile and allow him to show us his way and grace for our life- blessings happen out of the blue it seems. Things you never thought could come true happen. The ten point buck you’ve been wanting might have just crossed you path. But remember God always gives us what we need- we don’t need to worry. And that’s the hard part: Not worrying.
Do you think these deer worry where there next acorn falls from? Do you think the birds worry about where they should fly next? Or even if there wings will work? No. They know the God who created them. In the Bible it says in the end of times the rocks will even cry out to him. Rocks…talking rocks….Wow. If God can make a rock talk, why can’t he supply your needs?
So maybe your a hunter like myself & my husband. If you are take this and apply it or at least think about it when you go bow hunting or hunting period. Remember to thank Him for all of his creation and praise his name before & after the hunt.
I hope this helped you as much as it did me when God taught me this.
Safe hunting to all-
Marli
Just Being Marli 