The local sheriff had decided to tighten the requirements for
his deputies. Each man had to qualify on the firing range, and
the distance had been extended from 15 yards to 25 yards. So
the deputies gathered to try their hand at hitting the target
at the increased distance. Each man had 18 seconds to get off
12 shots.
The best shot in the area is also our personal friend. The day
before the trials he had been fitted with his first pair of
trifocal glasses. When his time came to shoot, he drew a bead
on the target.
"Suddenly," as he told me later, "I began to perspire. And when
I perspire, my glasses fog up. There I was with a bead drawn on
the target, and all I could see was fog.
"Then I remembered what our old Navy instructor had taught us:
'If [for some reason] you ever lose sight of the target,' he
said, 'just remember your position.'
"So," our friend said, "I just held my position and pulled the
trigger as fast as I could. By then I had fewer than 18 seconds,
but I got off all 12 shots. When I took off my glasses and
wiped them, I had hit the bull's-eye every time."
There are times when we, for some reason, lose sight of our
target-which is to glorify our Lord. The world is too much with us.
Tears blur our vision. Unexplained tragedy raises questions that
cannot be answered and shakes our faith to its foundations.
Then we must remember our position, for the Christian's position
is "in Christ." If we just "remember our position," we won't miss.
-- By Ruth Bell Graham
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