Outdoor Truths: Aiming Outdoorsmen Toward Christ Jan 23, 2014

Gary Miller ~ outdoortruths.org

Outdoor Truths: Aiming Outdoorsmen Toward Christ Jan 23, 2014
Once again, the deer season is coming to a close. I always hesitate to write that it is completely finished this time of year because the Deep South is still in full rut. The rest of us, however, have traded our rifles for shotguns or fishing rods. This season has forced me to make a change for next year. In Kentucky, the bears have caused a major shift in the numbers and movement of deer where I hunt. I have watched this slowly occurring for the past several years hoping something would curtail this change. But it looks like I will be the one to change. I have had to do this before.
I can remember the time when I used to catch hybrid and white bass (we called these stripers) on Cherokee lake. The late fall and winter months were particularly good. But a change took place there as well. The fish, officially (pardon the pun) called the striper, began to flourish and feed on these smaller bass. (There is still much debate on the real reason) Nevertheless, my fishing crew was forced to regroup or simply hang up our rods. We stayed the course, changed baits, and began to catch gobs of largemouth.
Sometimes change is a choice, other times it is forced on us. These forced changes seem to always come from an environmental variation. That is, something in the environment of our lives causes us to change, move, or die. We still see this in nature. It is why animals of all kinds migrate from one place to the other. We can only kill ducks in Tennessee when the environment of Michigan becomes too difficult for them to survive. And it is the same for caribou, elk, bear, and many other critters. What you never see in the animal world however, are those who kick and scream and openly rebel against these necessary moves. They simply move, trusting the instincts that have been instilled in them by their own kind and ultimately by their Creator.
            But what about us humans? We are a stubborn lot. Instead of change or move, we usually chose adapt and die. While adaptation can be a good quality, it is not if our adapting stunts who we were made to be. For humans, the goal is not simply survival. It is to fully become who God made each of us to be. If you can adapt in your present circumstances and become that person, then great! But if not, change, move, or die.