20 Feet Up

When I get in my tree stand, I am 20 feet above this old world that dishes out so much craziness.

It had taken 8 revolutions of the big hand on my old Timex wrist watch to complete the journey, but there I was – 500 miles from home in an area notorious for better-than-average whitetail bucks and spotty-at-best cell service. A lovely combination for a weary mind and an anxious bowhunter! In this year of 2020 with all of its “figure it out” hands that had been dealt along with the many trying circumstances and obstacles, I was in need of a reprieve, but I was not aware of just how needed it was.

We arrived at camp with ample time to unload, unwind, and unveil our strategy for the evening’s hunt. My friend was to Christen a newly erected stand along a trail near a large food source, and I was to revisit an old reliable stand in a lone oak in an overgrown pasture. Once we were camo clad and bearing bows, we were on our way. Twenty feet later, we were both enjoying something we, as bi-vocational pastors, don’t experience very often – solitude, serenity, and silence. I can’t speak for my friend, but I have a sneaky suspicion the unfolding of the next several hours were for him something similar to what I explain below.

I understand the sentiment of some when they say being in a tree stand gets them 20 feet closer to God. I also understand the error in that line of thinking, because the Lord is always with us (Matthew 28:20). I guess a better way to explain it is to say that when I get in my tree stand, I am 20 feet above this old world that dishes out so much craziness. When I’m 20 feet high I am in a place where my mind is more at ease and my senses are more perceptive to the nudgings of nature and the whispers of the Spirit. And so it was on that late October evening. I was hunting, yes – but it was more than that. I was listening. I was understanding. I was reviving. I was – if this is even a term – destressifying. That evening, I experienced the kind of rest that Jesus must have been talking about in Matthew 11:28 when he offered this invitation to the weary masses – Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. There in that arena of the changing colors of fall, I rested. There in the cool refreshing breeze of late October, I rested. There, 20 feet above a world that is riddled with issues, I rested.

I am not naïve to think that being 20 feet high in a tree is the solution to everyone’s stress. That’s MY THING, but it’s not everyone’s thing. But that’s not the point at all. The real truth is this – we all need to find a place where we can temporarily get away from it all and rest in our wonderful Savior’s presence. Maybe that means waking up early and enjoying a cup of coffee on the porch as the sun comes up. Maybe that means driving down the backroads with the music turned up and the windows rolled down. Maybe it means cranking the lawn mower and taking in that fresh cut grass smell. Whatever it is – do it. Take Jesus up on his offer, and enjoy His rest!

Oh, we did have some success on the hunting adventure. We made the return trip home with some coolers full of fresh protein, new stories to tell, and most importantly – rested minds for the very real world that hadn’t gone anywhere! Now – as the world continues to turn and throw problems your way, whether in a tree or some other place – fully resting in the Lord – on down the road, I’ll see you…in the Great Outdoors!