Original: September 17 2007
McMinnville, OR
32 It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights.34 He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.35 You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great.36 You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn.37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed.38 I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet.39 You armed me with strength for battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet. Psalm 18: 32-39
We stopped at the little Chevron Station in Prairie City, Oregon before heading into the “Strawberries” to scout out our hunting location. An older man was pumping our gas and he introduced himself as Kelly. I asked him about the basins we were about to hunt. He smiled and said, “If you can get into that basin you will be sure to see big bucks. Down here all we see is little bucks but the big bucks live up high.”
“The big bucks live up high.”
I knew what he was speaking truth, which is what scared me the most.
Recently I spoke to another man in our church. This senior adult is normally one of the most positive men I know but as I shared about my pending hunt his countenance changed and he shocked me with his abrasive response, “You’re stupid. That’s how we read about another statistic in the paper!”
The advice of these two men taught me two things. First, the big bucks are up high. Second, only stupid men try to hunt them. Can we change that to ignorant instead? Stupid seems so harsh, but as Forrest Gump’s mom used to say, “Stupid is as stupid does!”
Big bucks are up high and it often requires big risks to get to them.
Ironically, I passionately believe that God was in the middle of the three year application process. He wanted me to confront my fears, stretch, and grow in this area of my life. Maybe my older friend is right. Maybe I am “stupid” but the Psalmist tells me twice in Psalms 18 that God “girds me with strength” (32, 9).
The line between passion and stupidity is a thin one, wouldn’t you agree?
Not only will God clothe men in strength but will give them the strength they need to climb to heights never reached; “He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights” (Psalm 18:33).
God comforts, feeds and fattens men up in the valleys but He men are made lean and strong high, often alone, on the mountain. It is in a one man tent, above the tree line, in a mummy bag at nearly 8,000 feet elevation where men hunt for the greatest Trophy in the universe-God.
To have “ankles that do not turn”, “bend a bow of bronze” and be able “to stand on the heights” only happens when a man is willing to climb to the highest point on the mountain of God.
The problem is the comfort the valley offers and getting into climbing shape takes time, energy and effort. Boys are not willing to make such sacrifices.
Only a man can make the climb.
Be one.
