OUTDOOR TRUTHS
By Gary Miller
Tim introduced Jonathon and I to sight fishing last year, during a crappie fishing
trip. Then, we only used that method for a few hours. This year’s trip was two days of
this technique. And after those two days, we had nearly 100 fish in our cooler. While
sight fishing has a few nuances, our method was to use the fishing-finding equipment
on the boat to locate underwater structures and to identify the crappies on those
structures. Once we identified them, we would cast our bait and watch for the fish to
follow and eventually (hopefully) take the bait. After we fished that area out, we simply
moved to the next fish-filled configuration and did it again. Sight fishing with high-tech
equipment is another way fishing has evolved. It’s no longer sit and wait or troll and
hope, but it’s fishing with the most amount of certainty that a fisherman can have. And
while there is still no guarantee the fish will be hungry, or will want my particular offering,
or even that I’ll be able to set the hook properly; this approach is as certain as it gets.
Just go by sight…… And I’m thinking all along how this is just the opposite of faith.
Many people fail to understand how faith works. It has both components of
evidence and no evidence. It contains the aspect of knowing and not knowing. The part
that we don’t understand is thinking that faith requires no evidence. But it does. The
evidence we have throughout all the Bible, is that God asks his people to live by faith.
And there’s a lot of evidence for that. That means we are to live our lives trusting Him
and what He says and not trusting what we see. And there are many reasons for this
plan. One is that since we will always live our life trusting in something or someone,
God wants us therefore to trust Him. Another is that while none of our senses can
always be trusted, the faith walk doesn’t focus mainly on what we see, but on what we
hear. It depends on the ears more than the eyes. That is, we are to act on what God has
said, not on what we may see or feel. Faith is more about praying than planning. It’s
Jesus telling the disciples to cast their net on the other said, and them doing it without
evidence of any fish. It’s God telling us where to fish when we can’t see under the
water, and where to walk when we can’t see past our next step. And like the disciples,
our success will come as we act on what He says and not on what we see. So, in your
decisions, are you spending more time looking or listening. Calculating or
communicating. Planning or praying. Don’t be concerned about whether God can. Find
out if He will. Because if it’s His will, it’s His bill.
Gary Miller
gary@outdoortruths.org
Gary Miller has written Outdoor Truths articles for 21 years.
He has also written five books which include compilations of his
articles and a father/son devotional. He also speaks at wild-game
dinners and men’s events for churches and associations. Stay
updated on Outdoor Truths each week by subscribing at
Outdoortruths.org
