iCrucified

Waiting, watching, and alert?

In my previous post I shared some of my thoughts about the watchman and his responsibility to wait, always patient… always alert. When a person becomes impatient, their senses are not always keen and they have a tendency to rush or force things to happen. When a person is not alert, they miss signs… and they miss opportunities. You might be wondering how I know this. Call my knowledge, “acquired,” through PhD work attained from the University of Thick Head and the College of Hard Knocks.

While I was writing the Pre-Advent reflection, I remembered an example of impatience and missed opportunity. It was my first deer hunting trip and I was around twelve or thirteen years old. I had spent the night at “camp” with my Papaw Borden and we had gotten up early before the sun was up. My papaw and I headed out to the woods and our respective deer stands. Now, this being my first experience deer hunting, I had great expectations and figured at the end of the hunting day I’d have a trophy buck in my possession and a story to share at camp. Also, this being my first deer hunting trip, I had no clue how far my expectations were from my reality.

So, it was still before daylight when we arrived at my posted deer “watch” and I climbed up into my stand. My papaw told me he’d be within a few hundred yards of me if I needed him to holler and he’d be listening for my “shot” in case I got the big buck. There was a five-gallon plastic bucket in the stand I turned over for a seat. I settled in and began my “alert,” patient, and vigilant watch. Dawn came and went as the morning sun started to rise… I don’t know how long I had been in the stand, keeping my eyes peeled for my “trophy,” but it seemed like it had been hours. My mind had been wandering and my attention span was now about equal to that of a mayfly. I had heard some shooting and occasionally heard noises that I thought might be deer or some other forest animal, but I never saw anything that resembled a deer. I was sure that whatever deer were in the woods had become someone else’s story and it wasn’t going to be my day. About the time that I made this determination, my alert meter bottomed out… about a 1.2 on a scale of 1-10.

I tried to remain alert and I tried to convince myself that the deer were coming and I’d get my chance if I just kept waiting patiently, but the other part of me knew better and had a stronger argument; “Deer were mythological creatures and I was not going to see one, much less bag one.” So, I did what any twelve years old boy would do… I pretended I was hunting and deer were everywhere and I started to pretend shoot them. I would take aim with my shotgun and make a shotgun report sound effect with my mouth, “peh-kowwwwww” (complete with echo). This went on for a good 10-20 minutes and I was having a grand old time shooting imaginary deer; it was the most fun I had all morning. All of the sudden the loudest crashing noise I’d ever heard in my life came raging through the forest almost sending my young heart into cardiac arrest. I quickly swung around from my imaginary hunt to see what the earth-shattering noise was when my eyes were greeted by deer (plural) running past me at full speed on both sides of my stand. Then, as quickly as they had appeared, they were gone. I settled in with new found ability to be alert, but it was too late. The deer never returned and my opportunity was lost. My trophies for the day were boredom, impatience, and imaginary deer.

I’d like to say this was a valuable lesson learned and from that point in my young life, I remembered what the fruits of impatience and not being alert would be. Alas, that would be a lie. Unfortunately, I think I could fill a small book with stories similar to this one. I’m hopeful that by recalling these stories in vivid memory, I might be reminded not to make the mistake yet again. I want to stay alert. I want to remember that God’s promises are true and He helps those who will wait diligently and listen for His whispers of encouragement. He has something to teach us while we wait and we watch. Our worst enemy is boredom, doubt, and impatience. I’ll preach to me; “Don’t give up Jeff… Stay awake Jeff… Keep your eyes peeled Jeff… Keep listening Jeff… God’s promise is going to be here any minute.”

Maybe this next story will have a different ending. Praise God and to Him be the glory. Amen.