God at the Gun Range

Last week I went and shot guns for the first time in my life. My boss opened up the opportunity for me to come shoot on her property.  For the past year I have talked about doing it, but I hadn’t made the time.  So, when I got the text, of course my answer was “Yes!”  I had a lot of fun shooting, I have only shot a BB gun before, so a completely new experience.  Afterwards, we went 4-wheeling in the woods, something I haven’t done in more than two decades!  It was a fun, relaxing afternoon.

As I look back on the experience, I thought of what God might try to show me from the opportunity.  As always, when I look for Him, I find Him, even at the Gun Range.

Sometimes you just have to step up   My boss seemed a little surprised that everything they suggested, I was willing to try.  It didn’t scare  me.  It’s interesting that I had no problem picking up a deadly weapon.

But there are times that God can’t get me share a scripture that would slay the enemy in someone’s life.  When God speaks, I have to be willing to step up to whatever He is telling me to do.  He will never lead me somewhere that He has not equipped me to be.

Sometimes you’ll hit the target.  I don’t remember what I was shooting with, but the target was 100 yards away.  After the 3rd shot, I finally hit the target.  I was excited to hear the little *ting* on the metal target I was aiming.  Honestly, it really surprised me that I hit the target.

I think it is that way with God.  There are times that I have thought “there is no way God that this is going to work.”  And yet, following his direction, I am still surprised when things happen like He says they will.  When I hit the target, it still surprises me.

Sometimes you will miss.  I missed a lot.  I would get frustrated that where I wanted the bullet to go, it would not.  Or where I thought I was aiming, the bullet would hit in a completely different spot.  It didn’t deter me from trying, and having fun doing it though.  I was able to consistently miss the target in the same spot multiple times.

Sometimes as a Christian, I’m afraid to put myself out there because “What if I miss God?”  To which God usually responds, “What if you don’t miss?”  Regardless, God is bigger than my misses.  He will send someone else along, or He will have me keep at it until I get it right.  God can’t use me if I am not willing to at least put myself out there.  I will also learn things through the misses.

You have to aim at the right target Having never shot a gun, I have never used a scope.  Looking through a scope at something 100 yards away, when your not sure what your looking for is, well, a challenge.  I saw bark, grass, and finally the target.  However, sometimes I wasn’t patient enough and got a little trigger happy prior to locating the target.

There are times that I have been trying with all my might, but I am not aiming at the right target.  It might be a good thing I am attempting to do, but it is not my target.  I have to put my energies in to the things that God is calling me too, not just things people are asking me to do.  It is easy to get caught up in the “Yes, I can.” because I care about someone and want to help project.  While there are times for those, I have to make sure I am not so busy that I miss the targets that God wants me to aim towards.

 It doesn’t matter what’s going on around you, just what’s ahead of you.  There were several people there shooting guns.  I don’t know what each gun sounds like.  it was easy to get distracted by those around me, who were experienced marksmen and others who shot regularly.  It would have been easy to get down on myself for not reaching the same level they did.

So it is in our Christian walk.  I have to stay focused on what God is wanting me to do right now.  I have to take my focus off what others are doing and really look at what I am doing.  When I am focused on the target in front of me, I won’t be distracted by the comparison of what others are doing, or the critics of what I am doing.

There are different requirements for different things.  Each time I picked up a different gun, or sat down to shoot it depending on the gun, they showed me things I had to do differently for each one.  I couldn’t load the 9mm like I had the 45.

So many times as Christians we get stuck in the routine of things. There are different things required at different levels.  When I was new Christian, God’s grace covered what I didn’t do right.  As I grew in my relationship with Him, God’s grace empowered me to live differently.

Most importantly I realized that God speaks to me wherever I am in life.  I don’t have to be focused on something super spiritual.  It is okay to relax and just have fun.  If there is something He wants to speak to me, He can reach me anywhere.  That’s how I know God’s at the Gun Range too.