Keep Moving Forward
By the time we were back at the bottom of the mountain, we had little more than a hopeful guess as to the direction of the bear. We split up in the timber and began a slow meander trying to find the clearing. Soon I heard a shot, and my partner, Tim Hand, had a beautiful cinnamon colored black bear. It was then that we discovered another mistake. We had been in such a hurry to get to the bear that we only grabbed our rifles. Our backpacks and camps were still near the top of this terribly steep mountain. We didn't dare leave the bear where it was because we didn't know if we could find it again.
We were both wearing a belt, so we took them off and lashed the bear's front foot to it's back foot on each side. Then I helped Tim shoulder the bear like a backpack and grabbed both rifles. Tim said, "I'm leaving my camp. There's no way I'm going to climb that mountain again." I said, "You pack the bear out and I'll climb the mountain, break down our tents and bring out both of our backpacks." Both of our full packs were extremely heavy, so Tim asked, "How are you going to do that?" I said, "I'll strap them up tight and just let them roll to the bottom. Then I'll have to carry one and drag one."
What's the point of all of this? Where there's a WILL, there's a WAY. Friends, don't give up too easily. Who ever heard of wearing a bear like a backpack? Who ever heard of one man bringing out two heavy packs in one trip? Jesus asked his disciples to do things that seemed impossible to them. He sent them out town-to-town to share the gospel without any money or food or warm clothing or overnight gear. They had no advance plans for lodging and no contacts to guide them.
Jesus essentially told them, "I know you don't know HOW- just go do it!" When you are confident that you are headed in the right direction and run into a wall, don't give up! You are MORE CREATIVE than you know, STRONGER than you think, and HAVE RESOURCES at your disposal that God has not yet shown you! Keep moving forward, and you will be blessed! -Pastor Brad
Tim Hand 'wearing' and packing a nice cinnamon black bear.
Written on April 15, 2026
Posted in Daily Devotions