Growing up in rural Louisiana,  I heard lots of talk around the coffee pot at church or barber shop or anywhere else that people gathered about duck hunting & fishing. One story that stuck with me was about how the indians hunted ducks on Catahoula Lake.

When ducks would fill the lake, the indians would take hollowed gourds & float them out toward the ducks. When the gourds got near the ducks, of course they would fly off. The next day, the indians would float the gourds again, with the same result. The next day they’d do it again. Next day, again. Everyday, until the time came that the ducks grew comfortable that there was no danger & they quit flying away. Then one day, the Indians would take the hollowed gourds & put them on their heads & then swim out to the ducks. Not thinking they were in any danger, the ducks would not fly off & the indians would carefully begin to snatch ducks under the water, snap their necks & tie them to their belts.

You probably don’t need me to make any application here. But I’ve thought about this story often from both sides.

The Indians

The Indians patience won them a great prize.  Proverbs 16:32 – “Patience is better than power…” They probably were able to harvest far more ducks than I or anyone else has with a powerful shotgun. Why? They devised a plan & faithfully carried it out. Someone said, “It’s not what you do today, it’s what you do everyday that counts.”  Some things only happen by deliberate, daily action. What needs my attention every day to overcome? What habits can I form that will gain me a great harvest? Overcoming an addiction, growing a church, seeing a loved one saved, growing spiritually. All this takes great patience & habitual attention.

The Ducks

The Ducks grew complacent & comfortable with possible danger. Proverbs 1:32 – “the complacency of fools will destroy them.” The Message paraphrase of that verse says it like this, “Carelessness kills, complacency is murder.” What am I growing complacent about that could possibly destroy me? Habits? Entertainment? Relationships? What am I growing less concerned about that could prove dangerous to me, my marriage, my family?

Stalled in your faith? Add Patience & Slay Complacency.