This past Saturday was Virginia's Youth Spring Turkey Hunt Day, which both I and the Cool Spring Game Dinner hunt winner, Austin, had been anticipating for weeks. Over the past month, my buddy and I had been getting reports from the farm owner about where the gobblers had been consistently seen on the farm. We had even scouted them out on two different occasions last week to ensure we had figured out precisely where they were roosting and heading to once on the ground. Therefore, with all this intel, my confidence was soaring in the pre-dawn hours as Austin, his father Steve, and I maneuvered quietly to the field where the gobblers and their hens have headed on so many days once leaving their roosts. I positioned my Avian-X hen decoy at the ideal shooting range for Austin, and we settled in by the trees on the field edge which had been located days prior as ideal locations to sit. Everything was going according to plan; however, as it became lighter, I heard plenty of gobbling in the distance, but none anywhere close to our setup. Eventually, several roosted hens began communicating nearby, but not the first gobble. In fact, three of those hens eventually flew off, one towards the distant gobblers, and two away from our field. Fortunately for Austin, he did get to hear a lot of gobbling and even watched two gobblers strutting at a distance later in the morning, but we did not come home with a gobbler like I had so anxiously expected.
Romans 10:9 (NLT)
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Saturday's events were a reminder that regardless of how well we plan and prepare for situations in our lives, sometimes they do not turn out like we hope or expect. I had a lot of intel and was very confident that things would go in our favor at first light, but the gobblers were not roosted near our setup. They had obviously roosted in a different part of the farm Friday evening, and that was the piece of the puzzle that I was missing. Similarly, there are many folks in this world that invest their time, energy and resources into planning and preparing for a comfortable and secure future here on earth, but give no thought or preparation to what lies beyond the tangible here and now. In a sense, they are only using partial intel. They either do not get to experience those comfortable days of their lives due to life's unpredictability, or they discover once at that stage in life that they are still void of lasting contentment. Too often, the plans and decisions based around one's eternity are never even considered until it is too late. God promises us in His Word, though, that if we put our trust and hope in Him alone, that He will take care of all our needs here on earth, and prepare a place for us with Him when it is our time to leave this world.
Are you using complete intel in planning and preparing for your future? Are you investing your time, talents and resources into things that will truly matter when your life comes to an end? Have you even given this significant thought? I encourage you to stand on the promises found in His Word - the Bible. If you plan and prepare based on those promises, you will not be unpleasantly surprised on the day when you meet Him face to face. - GE
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