The majority of my time this past week was spent dressed in camouflage, wearing face-paint, and lugging a 12-gauge shotgun through the woods. Each hunt ended with disappointment. You could hear the turkey in the distance, but could never get close enough to get a shot off...
During this process, I began to see that many spiritual lessons can be learned through hunting. The main one, obviously, was patience. Perseverance played a close second.
Last night, as James would say, "Patience had her perfect work". This particular evening was different than the rest.
Instead of sitting in the same location as we had been all week, we (my brother and I) decided to hike up a very steep ridge and try to find these turkeys. I did not enjoy this hike. It was a warm day, I had beads of sweat/paint dripping down my face, and I knew that we were not going to see any turkeys. Pessimism creates a wall that blinds us from our surroundings.
After grumbling and complaining to myself all the way up the ridge, we made it to the top, and I stood in complete awe. I was correct about the lack of turkey, but God wanted to show me something different. The view from the top of this ridge was breathtaking! We never would have seen this marvelous site had we not made the treacherous climb. After silently repenting, I sat down and began to breath in the beauty of God's creation. I was so focused on my destination that I had been missing the beauty of the journey.
After around 30 minutes, we decided to head back down to our normal spot. We made it down with about an hour of daylight left. As we sat there, I was counting down the minutes in my head until we could leave. I felt that God had shown me what He wanted to, and now I could go. But God was not finished. All of the sudden my brother taps me and whispers, "get your gun up!".
There he was, 50 yards away, my destination. The Lord provided a "turkey" in the thicket. It was as though we had a magnet that was pulling this bird toward us. Then he walked behind a tree and we lost sight of him. After a very long minute, he walked around the other side of the tree, and I took the shot. Needless to say, we will be frying turkey this week...
We can become so wrapped up in our destination, that we miss the beauty of the process. The journey is not always enjoyable, but there is an underlying joy in every circumstance. We are not alone. Jesus goes with us.
Over the past year I have noticed that things do not always turn out the way I had hoped, or thought that they would. Sometimes the exact opposite happens! We feel like we hear God lead us toward something, we pursue that calling, and then we end up somewhere different. Do we get discouraged and think that we are unable to hear the Lord? Do we give up on the things we feel God is calling us toward? How do we know when to let go or keep pressing on? I do not know all of the correct answers. But these things I do know...
I refuse to let my dreams die. I say 'NO' to discouragement. I press on. If I fail, then I fail. If I'm wrong, then I'm wrong. My decisions are no longer shaped by the 'What ifs'. I continue to joyfully pursue all that I feel God calling me toward. I stop focusing on my destination, and I choose to breath in the beauty of this journey with Jesus. I no longer fear failure because Jesus already succeeded. I must go until He comes. I won't stop until He stops me. I delight myself in Him, not because I want him to give me my desires, but because He is just that good. He always provides. He knows what I need more than I do. He is a perfect Abba. He is not just a good thought to me. He is my reality. If I hear Him say something, my answer is always "Yes". If I hear wrong, so what. He is Redeemer. He is limitless. He is Abba.
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