You will get a kick out of this if you are an outdoorsman. If you’re not, the spiritual implications arevaluable, trust me. I recently spent a few days bowhunting in adense forest in central Missouri. On thesecond morning of the hunt, I awoke 30 minutes before the alarm went off. I slept great! I was rested and ready to go. Getting up extra early, I was able to readthe Bible, pray and enjoy some good coffee before we left the cabin. I had only been in this set of woods oncebefore and yet walked directly to the tree I wanted to hunt from. Awesome! The morning was goingperfectly. I climbed the tree and gotsettled in my stand. I knew this wasgoing to be a great day.
About 7:30 a.m. I saw movement on my right side. Here he came. A nice buck emerges from the brush about 20 yards away. I had only a small lane to shoot through andknew I couldn’t waste much time. That’swhen it happened; a series of mistakes that would turn my “perfect” morninginto a long, wet, disappointing day. Letme explain.
As I drew my bow, my peep sight turned. Aargh! That’s when I realized my firstmistake of the morning; I didn’t give my equipment a thorough check. Then, I made my second mistake, I didn’tregroup. I thought about it. I really did. But instead, I took a blind shot. The result was a poor shot and hours of tracking in the rain!
Tired and frustrated, I settled into a different spot in theevening. I just knew that the deer wouldcome from one direction so I set my climbing stand to face it. I had good, clear shooting lanes, my peepsight was in
place and I was ready. Thenit happened. The deer did not come from the direction I was facing. Nope, itcame from behind me. When I realized it,I got impatient. Instead of waiting forthe right moment to turn my body into position, I hastily turned around to geta shot. By the time I got back to where Ineeded to be, I was busted. I watched asthe deer galloped away from about 25 yards. I neglected to follow the basicrules of hunting.
Needless to say, as I lay in the bed that night my emotionswere much different than how they had begun earlier that morning. My anticipation of a great day had turned toa restless night of disappointment and a list of “should haves.”
As I pondered on the mishaps it struck me. The mistakes I made in the woods are often madein our faith journey with the Lord. Wego from unspeakable joy and great anticipation to regret and disappointment
