OUTDOOR TRUTHS: Being better
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If you looked at most of my hunting and fishing trips from the standpoint of harvesting game, you would conclude I was unsuccessful. Most of the time, I leave home with great expectations, only to return with the reality of an unfilled tag or an empty live well. I remember a commercial where a man’s wife watched her husband leave each Saturday morning with his fishing rod and Labrador, only to come back home that afternoon, with just his fishing rod and his faithful companion. She wondered why he continued to go. I can also remember, the days when my children were young, that I would return home from a hunting trip and would be faced by three children with the same question: “Did you get anything?” They got so used to the same answer; they began not to ask. (I’m sure glad that our sustenance was not based on me bringing home the meat) But, what I found out over the years was that I did not become a better hunter or fisherman on days that the harvest was easy, but I became better, most of the time, on the days I came home empty-handed. Let’s face it; it doesn’t take much know-how to go out and catch fish when they are biting everything that comes in front of them. Nor is much knowledge gained when that deer meanders by your tree stand 10 minutes after daylight. Knowledge to become a better outdoorsman is gained through the tough times. It happens when we shoot high on that doe or don’t set the hook on that bass. It’s those times that we come home better than when we left, whether we have something to show for it or not. And even though we want to fill a tag, it’s better to come home better.
This is also the way God works. God is not interested as much in what we do, or what we “harvest” at the expense of what we are becoming. He is interested in us being better. Better husbands or wives, better fathers or mothers, and better followers of Christ. Not because these things make Him love us more, but because they make our lives “better.” And most of the time, this doesn’t happen during the easy days but during the days when there is nothing in our hands to show for our effort except the calluses of being faithful.
(We’ll talk about this on Tuesday morning, on Zoom. Get the link at outdoortruths.org)
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■ Gary Miller has written Outdoor Truths articles for 21 years. He has also written five 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. Stay updated on Outdoor Truths each week by subscribing at Outdoortruths.org.
