By Gary Miller
It was only about 30 minutes after daylight when a doe and spike showed up under my tree stand. I had planned on putting some meat in my freezer and this doe would have been perfect, but I just couldn’t make myself let go of an arrow. I watched, waited, contemplated, and analyzed and still couldn’t shoot the very thing I had come after.
But here’s the rest of the story. Only 15 minutes earlier, as I was glassing the field in front of me, I saw a nice buck. It really surprised me because I was not expecting to see a reputable buck at this particular time and place. But there he was, an eight pointer that I would have been proud to haul home. I watched him that morning until the doe and spike showed up, at which time he eased into the woods. But I still have my doe, I thought. And afterall that is really what I came for. But what was once my prize quickly and even strangely became uninteresting. After seeing the buck I was no longer drawn to the doe. I thought again that if I were to arrow that doe I might send that buck running a hundred miles past the Great Commission. So I let her walk. Three more doe came. I let them walk. A flock of turkeys came. I let them walk as well, all because I was putting my hopes in that buck showing back up. He never did. If I had to do it over again……. I would do the exact same thing.
Sometimes in life the possibilities of something great are better than the reality of something that is only good. The mind and its hopes are never stretched by the surety of what is in front of us but only by the potential of what might lie just a little farther ahead, into the unknown. Most of the time these decisions do cost something. I went home empty-handed. They also try our patience as we wait on the best while passing on what may be good or better. The truth is God has called each of us to a life that is filled with His best. His best will not be gained as we live according to what we can see and be certain of, but it will be lived in anticipation of what we have just gotten a glimpse of and is still just outside of our reach.
God will always ask you to wait on His best. The only way you will miss it is if you settle for what is second best, because it is already in front of you.
Contributing Columnist Gary Miller can reached at gary@outdoortruths.org.
