| Outdoor Truths: Aiming Outdoorsmen Toward Christ June 21st |
Gary Miller ~ outdoortruths.org
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In my area, June has been a very pleasant month for outdoor activities. There have been many days where the mornings have had a nip to them and where the midday seemed almost deplete of any humidity. These will soon be overcome by the sweltering days of August. But until then I will savor each moment.
Fishing has become the pastime of most outdoorsmen. Many of these trips have a camping aspect attached which makes them even more memorable. And of course, the recreational boaters and jet skiers are also making the most of these pre summer days. All in all it’s another ‘beautiful day in the neighborhood.’ I’ve already enjoyed a night on the river bank, sitting beside a camp fire with my son. We enjoyed baked potatoes that were cooked by the embers from the fire, along with fried redeye that we caught that evening.
I often challenge myself by not taking anything of substance to eat on these trips. If I catch something, I eat. If I don’t, I don’t. This makes me fish for quantity and not quality. I use the bait that I think is most likely to catch a fish – any fish. And what otherwise would be catch and release, is now catch and cook, even those that are usually considered too small. It’s a fun way of really seeing if I could live off of my little land. The key however, is not having a backup plan; and to be honest, even something as little as one night without a good meal doesn’t sit well with me. And that really is a shame. I have never known of anyone who died from missing one meal. We Americans could actually stand to miss a few more. But I digress.
Do you have backup plans? Most of us do. Sometimes we never know what they are until we are put in a predicament whereby plan A fails. It’s at that time that our mind begins to work frantically to find another way; to make it work; to adapt, overcome, improvise. (Thanks Clint Eastwood) And all of this sounds honorable, but did you know that real faith- the greatest faith – has no backup plans. There are no contingent strategies if plan A fails. And did you know that God calls us to trust Him in this way at times? It’s true. Even in the first and most basic aspect of our hope, God asks us to trust Him to get us to Heaven. We do, and then leave it there, without any thought of what we might do if we are wrong. If God would ask us to trust Him in this, without any backup plans, why would He not ask us to trust Him this way in other matters as well? He would and He does.
My friend, don’t think it strange if God asks you to do something and leaves you no room for contingencies. He is simply testing the depth of your faith. Real faith jumps far enough out, leaving no possibility of reaching back to anything that might be attached to the security that we just left. Sometimes it’s God or nothing.
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