Firing Too Soon

I’m not a deer hunter I think I was brainwashed by "Bambi"but I don’t really understand what happens in some parts of the country when deer season opens. Some places close school for a few days because of the deer, and in many places, it’s just understood that workers won’t show up for work they’ll be somewhere in the woods on Operation Buck. Unfortunately, sometimes the hunt can end in tragedy for the hunter, I mean, not the deer.

This past year, on the day the deer season opened in Arkansas, two hunters were killed in accidental shootings. One was shot by another family member who apparently fired two shots at a deer that ran in front of him and one of those bullets struck the victim in the chest. They say he was a victim of what they call "buck fever". For example, a hunter spots what he believes to be a deer and fires as soon as his sights are lined up on the target but, in reality, the target is another hunter with leaf-bare arms that look like antlers. Hunters know that things turn deadly when someone decides to fire before seeing everything clearly.

You don’t have to be a hunter to make that mistake. In fact, it’s quite possible that you and I have wounded way too many people because we fired before we saw everything clearly.We all need the reminder of our word for today from the Word of God in James I:19. I nominate this as one of the five most disobeyed verses in the Bible, and I don’t know what the other four are. Here’s what God says: "ake note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." Now, all too often we just turn the words around, don’t we? Be slow to listen, quick to speak, and quick to become angry. We fire at someone before we see everything clearly.

You can’t see everything clearly if you’re quick to speak: as a parent, as a husband or wife, as a friend or counselor, or as an employer or employee. We so often start shooting before we really understand what a person is feeling; where they’re really coming from. We may listen long enough to hear their words, but not their heart . . . to hear the surface issue, but not long enough the real issue. We make some of our most hurtful mistakes, we say some of our most damaging words, when we just react to a person’s deeds instead of stepping back and looking for the need that is causing that deed.

So many of our arguments, our blowups, our misunderstandings, the broken relationships, the walls are pretty much because we do not hold our tongue, fire off a prayer to God for patience, and listen before we speak. Proverbs 18:13 says, "He who answers before listening – that is his folly and his shame." When we don’t listen, ask questions, and back off to get our feelings under control, we end up scarring people we care about with the ugly weapon described in Proverbs 12:18 -"Reckless words pierce like a sword."

We talk way too soon and way too much. We listen way too little and do way too much damage--usually to the people we love the most. So, hold your fire until you’ve taken the time to get the whole picture. When you fire too soon, someone you love is going to get hurt.

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Today's Daily Wisdom is written by Ron Hutchcraft, based on his popular radio broadcast,"A Word With You"."A WORD WITH YOU" daily devotionals are now available via e-mail. To subscribe send a blank email to:awordwithyou-subscribe@hutchcraft.com,or to request the "Yours for Life" booklet, fill out the form on this site:http://www.gospelcom.net/rhm/yours/yflorder.html. Ron Hutchcraft Ministries has been on-line with Gospelcom since February, 1996, providingpractical answers to real life issues. (c) 2000 Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.PO Box 400, Harrison AR 72602