Mercy

Deer season was on its way and I was prowling bow shops looking for a new bow since I discovered how fun and challenging bow hunting proved to be. When I got into bow hunting I borrowed my dad’s old bow that was a Fred Bear. The bow was made well before parallel limbs with huge cams were introduced, so speed was generated with long limbs. Although more difficult to maneuver, it was more forgiving and proved to be a fine choice, introducing me to bow hunting. I had stopped by a few local shops and decided on a BowTech Tribute. I am only 5’9” on the best of days, and wanted a bow that was short axle-to-axle, yet boasted plenty of heft to launch arrows at a whitetail faster than he could wind a doe.

October finally arrived and after some practice I was convinced I was ready to try my luck in the woods. I chose a patch off woods bordered by thick mesquite on the east, and a field to the west. Hunting from a hanging stand about 22’ off the ground, I was set up only a few yards from the location I had harvested my first deer with a bow. The weather was warm as usual for October in southwest Oklahoma, but this location was known for deer so I was hopeful.

As I sat in my stand thinking about my first bow kill, I remembered how Darrion and I searched for two hours in the heat of the early afternoon looking for the doe I shot a little high, leaving no blood. I knew I didn’t want to repeat this scenario and was confident in a good clean, well placed shot. Before long I began to hear rustling leaves and noticed a doe coming up out of a small draw toward my stand. I was anxious to fling an arrow at a deer with my new bow, so decided to take the shot as the deer came into about 15 yards. I released the arrow and dropped the doe in its tracks. I was immediately excited but quickly realized my shot placement was a little high. The deer was down but not dead, I had paralyzed the doe by hitting the spine but it was still breathing. Every good hunter likes to a quick and clean kill and when faced with poor shot placement must decide how to prevent their harvest from unwanted suffering. The only thing I had to offer the deer at this point to keep it from suffering was to quickly finish the kill. I’ve found the more I hunt, the more I appreciate God’s creation, and the more careful I am about ethical hunting decisions.

When I think back about this hunt and the brief moment of suffering this doe endured I am reminded of how powerless I am. The only thing I could offer was mercy by ending her suffering in a physical sense. Merriam Webster defines mercy as “a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion or as compassionate treatment of those in distress.” The mercy I have to offer is the later but not the former. Only God can offer true mercy. Only he has the ability to see us in our suffering and spiritually heal us as well as physically. Even Merriam Webster acknowledges this with the use of the word divine in its definition. I am very thankful for God’s mercy because just as this doe unexpectedly ended up in a situation out of its control that lead to suffering, we often end up in a situation where God gives us mercy. He doesn’t just put us out of our misery, he offers us healing. He gave us his Son who suffered in our place so that we could receive mercy and grace.

Hebrews 4:16 (ESV) Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Lamatation 3:22-23 (ESV) The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Ephesians 2:4-5 (ESV) But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved.

The power of a morning hunt.

One of my favorite things about hunting is sitting in my tree-stand for a cool crisp early morning hunt. As I make my way into the stand everything is calm and quiet even the wind is calmed from the coolness of the night. As I settle into my stand I notice it is dark and still all around me. Soon the sun begins to rise making the horizon glow a bright beautiful orange and I can begin to make out the woods around me. As I sit there still and quiet the woods begin to come to life. Birds are chirping, squirrels are jumping limb to limb through the trees, you can here the caw of a crow in the distance and even an old buck grunting as he works through the oak bottom.
This is one of the most impressive experiences I’ve witnessed. As I am there sitting, watching, waiting with the woods in darkness with no sounds or signs of life, then God begins to reveal his glory in all its splendor with the rising of the sun. I don’t know of a better picture of creation or a more awesome demonstration of God’s power. It is undeniably God who created and maintains all that we enjoy. As I begin to look around I see the variety of life he has created. I see grass, trees, honeysuckle, a field of wheat, a pond teaming with fish, the forest floor covered in leaves and the shear variety of insects. It is impossible for me to look a the ecosystem God has given us where everything has a role and does its part to support an environment where life can grow and flourish and even begin to fathom it wasn’t all divinely created by God. I find God simply undeniable.
Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:27 So God created humankind in God’s image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Genesis 2:19 So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the human to see what he would call them; and whatever the human called every living creature, that was its name.
Not only were we created but we were a part of creation and God is here today desiring that same relationship with us. In 2 Corinthians 6:16 the bible says, “What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” If you want to experience God and find that relationship with him simply look at the world he created and begin to pay attention and you will see him in all his beauty and power and splendor.