"Tracking" Your Faith Journey

Not long ago, I finished my handmade mount for the turkey fan from last springs hunt. Hunting season opened this weekend with the beginning of dove season. I had hoped to join in on the festivities this year, but alas, it was not to be. Still, I did take my day off to venture out into our two Wildlife Management Areas to do some tracking.

Here in Georgia, we do not have a fall turkey hunting season so it may not make much sense to be out tracking turkey. My son says I am obsessed and he may be right. Still, talking with other hunters and doing some reading recently got me thinking it would probably be a good idea to get out.

You see turkeys, like all animals are creatures of habit. They leave behind markings. For a new turkey hunter like me, I need the practice of looking for sign and plus, it is good exercise (I hiked about six miles which was a blast). I found an old turkey feather with some weather and ants on it so I knew it was not fresh. I found dried mud with turkey tracks so again, not fresh. But it told me turkeys had been there and in all likely hood, they would be there again. This proved true about an hour later as I back-tracked and spooked a young jake (a young male turkey) - you cannot get any better sign than that!

On another trail, in the mud, I found the tracks of polts (baby turkeys) which told me turkeys had come through since our last rain last week. I also found a dropping (always fun to talk about) and a tail feather which had me practicing my gobbler yelps to see just how long since the turkey had passed that way.

But it was taking one fork in the trail that really got me thinking. I hiked about half a mile and saw no sign whatever of turkey tracks. A waste of time? Not at all. It told me that next spring, I'm not hauling a gun down that trail! Instead I'll take the other fork where I found a turkey track less than 50 yards down the trail.

I began to consider though, how often we begin to think we have come a long way in our spiritual journey or we've achieved some level of spiritual significance. Yet, do we look at the sign? Better yet, do we ask others to examine our lives to see if there is any sign of the Spirit's work? Have our lives begun to show evidence of the growing fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26) or maturing characteristics of discipleship Jesus described in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12)?

It could also be you are doing your own searching for the Spirits' leading in your heart and life. Have you seen any sign of His going before you? Have you looked to Scripture to see where it tells us how God has worked? Do you look to tradition to where others have found the work of God in the lives of others?

'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.' (Jeremiah 29:13) I pray this fall that as you search for God's sign, you will do it with all your heart. Be careful to not go far down a path where there is no sign and where you find evidence of His presence, pursue God with all your heart.



May I Ask? When was the last time you examined yourself and your journey? Are you where you really want to be? Are you where God wants you to be? Would you know the difference?

May I Suggest? Find a good friend or two in the same boat. Start meeting together for breakfast once a month. Come up with some good questions to ask one another about life and God. Be tough. Be real. Seek God with all your heart.