Outdoor Truths

I remember one of my first trips to Texas. I was going to hunt pigs with a bow at night. The setup went like this. We would get in a blind before dark, and after dark, the pigs would come to a feeder. On cue, a friend would then shine a light on the pigs, I would draw my bow, pick out a pig, and let an arrow fly. Everything went as planned until the "pick out a pig part" (say that three times, fast). There were so many, and they were running around so much, I couldn't figure out which one to aim at. And because my time was limited, I just decided to let an arrow fly into the mess of pork, hoping for the best. I had no idea if I was successful or not until my friend exclaimed "Good shot!" To which I acted like I knew exactly what I was doing from the start. The truth is, whether you are hunting pigs or ducks, the best practice is to aim at only one instead of shooting into the whole bunch. There's a story in the Bible about a man who shot into the whole bunch. He was an unnamed soldier who was part of the army of the Arameans. They were fighting against the armies of Israel and Judah. The king of Israel was Ahab, and he was a very wicked king. The prophet Micaiah had predicted his death because God had decreed it earlier. When Micaiah told Ahab if he went to war, he would die, Ahab thought he would just disguise himself and go anyway. But the Bible says an unnamed man shot his bow at random. That means he shot into the whole bunch. And unbeknown to him, his arrow struck Ahab in the chest, and he died. I imagine this unnamed man never knew the magnitude of his accomplishment. I imagine he never knew he was the primary instrument in carrying out God's plan. I imagine he may have even considered himself ordinary and therefore unusable for any meaningful purpose. He was wrong, and so are you if you are thinking the same way. The truth is, we may never know what God has done with us and through us until we get to Heaven. We may never see the magnitude of ministry that has been accomplished through our normal life or through our ordinary position. But just know, God has a plan. And you and I are part of His plan. If it were not true, we would not still be here. God still does most of his work through ordinary people who do ordinary tasks, in faithful ways. And while you may think you are just shooting into the whole bunch, God is directing each arrow according to his perfect plan.