Remember Your Position
The local sheriff had decided to tighten the requirements for his deputies. Each man had to qualify on the firing range, and the distance had been extended from fifteen yards to twenty-five yards. So the deputies gathered to try their hand at hitting the target at the increased distance. Each man had eighteen seconds to get off twelve shots.
The best shot in the area is also a personal friend, George Burgin, who, together with his wife, Corenne, keeps an eye on Bill and me. The day before the trials he had been fitted with his first pair of trifocals. When his time came to shoot, he drew a bead on the target.
"Suddenly," as he told me later, "I began to perspire. And when I perspire, my glasses fog up. There I was with a bead drawn on the target, and all I could see was fog."
"Then I remembered what our old Navy instructor had taught us: "If (for some reason) you ever lose sight of the target,' he said, 'just remember your position.'"
"So," our friend said, "I just held my position and pulled the trigger as fast as I could. By then I had less than eighteen seconds, but I got off all twelve shots. When I took off my glasses, and wiped them, I had hit the bull's-eye every time."
There are times when we, for some reason, lose sight of our target - which is to glorify our Lord. The world is too much with us. Tears blur our vision. Unexplained tragedy raises questions that cannot be answered and shakes our faith to its foundations.
Then we must remember our position, for the Christian's position is "in Christ." As if we were tired or hurt children, He will gather both us and our loads.
Though we may not, for some reason, see the target, if we just "remember our position," we won't miss.
-From The Legacy of a Pack Rat by Ruth Bell Graham; part of The Inspirational Study Bible: New Century Version by Max Lucado
The best shot in the area is also a personal friend, George Burgin, who, together with his wife, Corenne, keeps an eye on Bill and me. The day before the trials he had been fitted with his first pair of trifocals. When his time came to shoot, he drew a bead on the target.
"Suddenly," as he told me later, "I began to perspire. And when I perspire, my glasses fog up. There I was with a bead drawn on the target, and all I could see was fog."
"Then I remembered what our old Navy instructor had taught us: "If (for some reason) you ever lose sight of the target,' he said, 'just remember your position.'"
"So," our friend said, "I just held my position and pulled the trigger as fast as I could. By then I had less than eighteen seconds, but I got off all twelve shots. When I took off my glasses, and wiped them, I had hit the bull's-eye every time."
There are times when we, for some reason, lose sight of our target - which is to glorify our Lord. The world is too much with us. Tears blur our vision. Unexplained tragedy raises questions that cannot be answered and shakes our faith to its foundations.
Then we must remember our position, for the Christian's position is "in Christ." As if we were tired or hurt children, He will gather both us and our loads.
Though we may not, for some reason, see the target, if we just "remember our position," we won't miss.
-From The Legacy of a Pack Rat by Ruth Bell Graham; part of The Inspirational Study Bible: New Century Version by Max Lucado
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