Let God be your guide! by Doug Anderson

Scripture Reading: Psalm 32:8-11

        On a late October afternoon this past bowhunting season, my friend and I headed for a local public hunting area to spend the last couple hours of daylight sitting in a tree and waiting for a deer to wander our way.  It was a cloudy, very windy afternoon and I decided to position myself on the ground near the point of a long grove of trees outside of which a deer trail comes to a fork.  If a deer did happen to come out of the low lying area, it would make its way right toward me and come to the fork in the trail.  At this point the deer would need to decide whether to go to the right and into a bean field, or to the left and continue following a trail running along side the grove of trees in which I was positioned.  Whichever direction the deer chose, I was sure to have a close and clear shooting lane.

        I had barely positioned myself behind a large tree with surrounding underbrush when up walks an average-sized buck exactly as I had hoped would happen.  He slowly walked right up to the fork and then promptly stopped.  In order for me to get the clear, close shot the buck needed to choose to go to the right or to the left.  As I mentioned, it was a very windy day, and evidently the deer

caught my scent because after many obvious moments of indecision, he chose to turn around and go quickly and safely from where he had come, choosing neither the right nor the left.

        Naturally, I was somewhat disappointed at the decision the deer had made.  However, as I now think back on that evening, I believe God was teaching me a lesson.  Often during our lives, we may come to a fork in the road and need to consider going to the “right” or to the “left.”  Well, after this hunting experience, God showed me there is one other choice.  Perhaps you are at a time in your life and your walk with God that has reached a fork in the road, and you have had many moments of indecision about which direction to go.  Choosing to go to the “right” or to the “left” during a time of indecision could be costly to our walk with God as it could have been costly to the life of the deer.  Take time to pray and wait for God to give you clear direction.  He may simply be wanting you to turn around and return quickly and safely from where you just came.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank you for Your willingness to “be our guide even to the end” (Psalm 48:14).  Help me to be sensitive to Your Spirit, Your Word, and Your People.  In His name, Amen.