I found a warmer day to cruise a property that I hunt. While I initially went to look for deer sheds, I really just needed to get outside and take in anything that was not manmade. But this time of year, it’s really more than that. During deer season, hunters normally sit still in a few specific places. After all, we don’t want to stink up our hunting area and cause the deer to leave. What we miss, however, are new sights and sounds. After the season, we can just walk and notice anything and everything about the woods and water around us. It is extremely therapeutic for me to make these hikes and take my time to look deeper into this magnificent creation that we get to live and hunt in.
One of the things I noticed this time was the previous location of a tree stand. Years ago, I hunted this spot because of a well-worn trail that came from a thicket, across a small opening, and almost directly in front of me. While I couldn’t see in the thicket, I could most assuredly tell where the deer chose to exit. I’m not sure why they chose this place, but I didn’t have to. I just positioned my hunting location according to what I could see at the time. But now, years had passed since that stand was in place. Enough years to turn that thicket into a patch of woods that I could easily see in and through. Enough years to be able to understand why this path was the right path. And enough years to see the obstacles that caused the deer to take the route they did. What I couldn’t see then, I could see now. That’s sounds a lot like life to me – especially now that I’m older.
I know of at least four built in, God given mechanisms, that we are all born with and show up in our early childhood and youth. One is freedom. Another is to dream. A third is the wonder of a higher power, we call God, and the last is for purpose. I think there is no doubt that a child’s first question is “Why?” For anything we ask them to do, they will always follow up that ask with the question “Why?” And we usually just say “Because I said so!” But in this elementary question is simply their desire to know purpose. And we will live our whole life after that seeking the same thing. Many times, it will be posited to God. “Why, God? Why me? Why this? Why now? Why here?” And a host of other “whys.” All of these are our ways of asking for God’s purpose. And there’s nothing wrong with this. We ask it because of what we can’t see. But what we can be assured of is that when we are uncertain about purpose, we can be certain God sees in and through our thicket. Our job is to trust Him now, and maybe one day, we’ll get to see what God saw all along.
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Gary Miller
gary@outdoortruths.org
Gary Miller has written Outdoor Truths articles for 21 years. He has also written five books which include compilations of his articles and a father/son devotional. He also speaks at wild-game dinners and men’s events for churches and associations. Stay updated on Outdoor Truths each week by subscribing at Outdoortruths.org.