Tip of My Iceberg

Courtney and Michael have never been gun people. They appreciate and enjoy all of nature, and it would be counter to all they are to consider shooting anything.

Alive.

Recently, Courtney had the opportunity to shoot at clay pigeons–skeet shooting. When her friend asked if she’d ever shot a gun, her comment was, “Sure, on Mario Brothers Duck Hunt.” Video game shooting. The real thing? Never. But my daughter, being the good sport she is, thought, “Why not?”

I have no familiarity with guns whatsoever, so I was in stitches as Courtney tried to explain the process they took her through to shoot. Her first big challenge was closing her left eye so she could view accurately through the gun sight. Court can’t wink with her left eye, so that became a bit of a challenge. They solved that by putting a patch over her left eye. We’ve now gone from Annie Oakley to the Dread Pirate Courtney.

Holding and aiming were an unusual feel, but the gentleman lifted the barrel of the gun to show Courtney the general idea of where to point it.

She learned quickly. She shot all the clay pigeons that were thrown for her.

Who knew she had such a skill set?

Too often our lack of understanding of a situation keeps us from trying. Or we make mistakes and fail and think we can’t be forgiven for what we’ve done.

Hosea, a prophet in the Bible, was asked by God to marry a prostitute, a request many wouldn’t consider, but God wanted to show Israel how she had prostituted herself to false gods. Hosea obeyed and married Gomer, and they had three children fairly quickly, each one named specifically to indicate God’s intention toward His beloved people.

But Gomer couldn’t keep from her old habits, and she fell back into prostitution, a picture of Israel being attracted by idols of other countries. God had punished Israel for her disobedience, but He redeemed her, and God encouraged Hosea to take back his wife in love,

“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them.’” Hosea 3:1.

Hosea redeemed his wayward wife in love, forgiving her and caring for her despite what she’d done. It’s a picture of God’s faithfulness to us when we who are His mess up our lives. His forgiveness is complete.

“The Lord says, ‘Then I will heal you of your faithlessness; My love will know no bounds, for My anger will be gone forever.’” Hosea 14:4. God’s willingness to forgive us is greater than anything wrong we can do.

Courtney’s hesitancy with guns was healthy, but she learned she could develop a skill set that didn’t take away her values. Hosea, who developed a heart focus that kept his values, he grew a skill set of forgiveness and compassion that allowed him to deal in love with his wayward wife.

When God provides a way for us, we need to take our shot.