Outdoor Truths: As we get older, change comes harder
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By Gary Miller
Nearly a year ago my tree stand collapsed from under me. It happened in a split second. Thankfully my safety harness and climbing system only let me drop a couple of feet, and I was able to climb down safely. While it wasn’t a “wake-up-call,” it was a healthy reminder to check my set-ups each year and replace any straps, stands, and harnesses. So, the other day, I replaced an old stand and straps with new ones. I’ll not take a chance on parts that can easily give way after a few years. What surprised me last year when I fell, was that the tree stand broke in a place I never imagined. After 30 years of climbing this experience changed me. And that’s what experiences do. They do what information cannot. For years I have been told to be aware. I have been told to test my equipment before the season. I have listened time and time again to the testimonies of those who fell to the ground because they did not wear a harness or because of some freak accident. I have watched plenty of videos of those who demonstrated how to climb safely, and how to maintain that safety while hunting. And thankfully I practiced most of what I was told and what I learned. But none of that information brought the deep, lasting, and genuine effect that one experience had. One experience trumped all the information I had taken in. Now it was real. Now I understood. Now I experienced a real change.
As we get older, change comes harder. Many will boastfully proclaim they are too old to change. And while that statement is not true, the likelihood of real change is minimal. Oh, we may change because some technology demanded we learn new information, or because a job or hobby required it. But that change is mostly superficial and shallow. It’s not change that starts from the heart. Only experiences can bring about that kind of change. And so it is with one’s relationship to God through Christ. More knowledge of the goodness of God will rarely bring about real change. That kind of knowledge can be doubted by us and debated by others. But neither we nor others can argue against our experience. The Apostle Paul was not changed by a plethora of knowledge but by a personal and unexplainable experience. And that kind of change changed everything and everyone he encountered after that. I hope you can speak of God more by your experience than you can by your knowledge. The world around you needs to see the difference.
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– Gary has written the Outdoor Truths article for 20 years. He has also written four 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.
