Outdoor Truths: Just going by sight
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
By Gary Miller
Tim introduced Jonathon and I to sight fishing last year, during a crappie fishing trip. Then, we only used that method for a few hours. This year’s trip was two days of this technique. And after those two days, we had nearly 100 fish in our cooler. While sight fishing has a few nuances, our method was to use the fishing-finding equipment on the boat to locate underwater structures and to identify the crappies on those structures. Once we identified them, we would cast our bait and watch for the fish to follow and eventually (hopefully) take the bait. After we fished that area out, we simply moved to the next fish-filled configuration and did it again. Sight fishing with high-tech equipment is another way fishing has evolved. It’s no longer sit and wait or troll and hope, but it’s fishing with the most amount of certainty that a fisherman can have. And while there is still no guarantee the fish will be hungry, or will want my particular offering, or even that I’ll be able to set the hook properly; this approach is as certain as it gets. Just go by sight…… And I’m thinking all along how this is just the opposite of faith.
Many people fail to understand how faith works. It has both components of evidence and no evidence. It contains the aspect of knowing and not knowing. The part that we don’t understand is thinking that faith requires no evidence. But it does. The evidence we have throughout all the Bible, is that God asks his people to live by faith. And there’s a lot of evidence for that. That means we are to live our lives trusting Him and what He says and not trusting what we see. And there are many reasons for this plan. One is that since we will always live our life trusting in something or someone, God wants us therefore to trust Him. Another is that while none of our senses can always be trusted, the faith walk doesn’t focus mainly on what we see, but on what we hear. It depends on the ears more than the eyes. That is, we are to act on what God has said, not on what we may see or feel. Faith is more about praying than planning. It’s Jesus telling the disciples to cast their net on the other said, and them doing it without evidence of any fish. It’s God telling us where to fish when we can’t see under the water, and where to walk when we can’t see past our next step. And like the disciples, our success will come as we act on what He says and not on what we see. So, in your decisions, are you spending more time looking or listening. Calculating or communicating. Planning or praying. Don’t be concerned about whether God can. Find out if He will. Because if it’s His will, it’s His bill.
–––––––––––––
ν 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.
