Nov

Astonished! by Randy Rowley 11/13/24 ©

It was bright and 82° when I arrived at the ranchette where I was hunting near Bertram – hot for a Veteran’s Day deer hunt.

I first checked my game camera for activity and was dismayed to find no new pictures, although most of the corn at my feeder was gone. Figuring that my camera had a problem, I went to the west side of the ranchette and looked for a place to move my 10’ tall tripod blind. I’d hunted from it the night before and the sun, which was just beyond my feeder, proved to be a killer for my eyes.

I found a spot that I was happy with and lopped a few saplings flush with the ground. I then went over to my tripod, removed the stakes holding it to the ground, lowered it into my truck’s bed, and drove to the new location. It only took a few minutes to erect it, and, unlike its previous location, there were no rocks to impede the stakes. I put my backpack and seat cushion in the stand and ranged the feeder – it was 191 yards away. I’d move it closer to the stand when it became low on corn.

I drove back to the barren camp, parked, grabbed my director’s chair from under the E-Z Up, and got my rifle out of its case in my back seat. When I turned around to begin my walk over to my stand, to my surprise several turkeys were happily devouring my corn at my feeder, just 50 yards away. I hadn’t been out of my truck for more than four minutes, so I was amazed that they showed up so soon after I arrived. But I was astonished that they, with their legendary keen eyesight (three times sharper than ours), hadn’t seen me moving around.

I wasn’t planning to hunt turkeys, so I didn’t bring a shotgun and had to use what I’d brought – my Remington Model 700, chambered in .25-06. I slowly moved to the driver’s side of my truck and used my bedrail as a rifle rest. I chambered a shell and scanned the constantly moving turkeys with my rifle’s scope. There were 13 of them. I picked out the gobbler that seemed to be the largest. I lined up on his chest, waited for him to stop moving, and squeezed my rifle’s trigger. But nothing happened. I’d forgotten to take my rifle’s safety off – a rookie mistake!

I took my rifle’s safety off, lined up on his chest again, waited for him to stop moving, and squeezed my rifle’s trigger. Upon my rifle’s report, twelve turkeys took flight and the one that I selected fell to the ground. Most of the survivors ran after they landed, but three of them just stood there looking at me, around 100 yards away. I could have easily shot another one, but I was hoping that my son, Ryan, who was also going to hunt that afternoon, would get a shot at one later. If I shot again I’d probably scare the survivors over to the next county, so I didn’t shoot.

My tactic paid off. As I cleaned my turkey, Ryan arrived and went to his ladder stand. A few minutes later, I heard his .308’s suppressed report (he also wasn’t planning to hunt turkeys, and didn’t bring his shotgun). I finished cleaning my bird and headed back to camp. When I arrived, Ryan was walking back to camp with a gobbler over his shoulder. He said that a dozen turkeys came to his feeder. As I did, he looked at several in his scope deciding which one was the biggest. But they started to leave, so he picked one out and shot it as it was trotting away.

I helped Ryan clean his bird and then went and checked my game camera, hoping that it recorded the instant of my shot. Unfortunately, there were only four pictures including a picture of me in my truck hauling my tripod to its new location, a picture of me in my truck returning to camp, a picture of my dead turkey, and a picture of me looking at my dead turkey. Surprisingly, there were no pictures of the turkeys feeding, which explained the lack of pictures during my first check of my game camera. I plan to adjust the sensitivity of the camera or replace it (as it’s ancient) at the earliest opportunity.

Acts 12 gives the recount of a surprise deliverance that occurred when King Herod was persecuting Christians in Jerusalem. Herod had James, the brother of John, killed with a sword. When he saw that the execution had pleased the Jews, Herod arrested Peter as well, intending to put him on public trial after the Passover. But Peter miraculously escaped imprisonment due to an unexpected deliverance.

Acts 12:4-16 tells us that, after arresting Peter, Herod put him in prison, and ordered 16 soldiers to guard him. But the church in Jerusalem was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Peter’s trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and soldiers stood guard at the cell’s entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on his side to wake him. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Then the angel told Peter to put on his clothes, sandals, and cloak, and to follow him. Peter did so, but he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the guards and came to the gate leading to the city, which opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left.

Then Peter came to his senses and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.” He went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, where many people had gathered and were praying for him. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and Rhoda, a servant, came to answer the door. She was so overjoyed at recognizing Peter’s voice that she ran back without opening the door and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” Those inside told her that she was out of her mind. But when she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.

Peter was so stunned by what had happened he thought he was dreaming, but then he came to himself and realized that he had been delivered! His deliverance was such a miraculous experience that those who were praying for him couldn’t believe it had happened. Verse 16 says they were “astonished” – they might have thought that Peter escaping while being guarded by 16 soldiers was impossible and were instead praying that God would change Herod’s mind.

What kind of situation are you in right now that looks hopeless to you? It’s probably no more hopeless than Peter’s predicament, where he was going to be put on a show trial and then executed. God gave Peter a surprise deliverance. God can do something similar for you too – a deliverance so mighty that you’ll think you’re dreaming!

Ways that we can prepare ourselves for God’s deliverance include:

We must believe that God can and will deliver us if it’s his will. James 1:5 says, “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” Doubt is our enemy. Only a believing heart expects God’s deliverance. We can’t doubt that God’s deliverance can happen to us.
If we’ve sinned, get right with God. In Acts 3:19 Peter exhorted, “‘Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.’” God can’t work miracles for us if we’re living in sin.
Surrender ourselves to God. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” When we rely on our abilities and strength, there is no room for God to work miracles for us.
Ask for God’s deliverance. Matthew 7:7-8 says, “‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.’” God answered the prayers of those who were praying for Peter – just probably not in the way that they expected.

Just as God astonished me with turkeys that shouldn’t have come to my feeder while I was moving around in the open 50 yards away from them, God wants to deliver and astonish his children, if we’ll allow him to.