My Grace is Sufficient For Thee
By Joseph Gutierrez
The man’s name was Sammy Dee. He had killed his own father and spent a number of years in prison for his crime. He served his time and was released from prison. He lived in Tennessee. He became an outdoor guide for bass fishing and goose hunting.
The thought of his father’s murder always haunted him and he wondered if God could ever forgive such an evil person as himself, could he ever have a new start in life? He prayed that God would forgive him but was not sure if God would, due to his evil deed.
One day he went out to hunt Canadian geese. As he waited by an area of water, he noticed high above a flock of geese was flying his way. These were geese migrating from Canada flying south. The geese were flying it the form of an arrow head. There was the lead goose at the front with two rows of geese following on each side of it like the shape of an A or arrowhead. This is the natural instinct of geese. One leads the way and the others follow the lead goose. It is against instinct and nature for any goose to break away from the flying formation unless the lead goose begins to descend to land on the ground.
As the geese were flying overhead, Sammy Dee blew on his goose caller to try and attract the geese to come and land near his goose blind where he was waiting. The lead goose did not respond to Sammy Dee’s goose caller. But one goose towards the back of the flying formation broke away from the flock and began to descend towards the area where Sammy Dee was waiting. This goose was going against instincts and nature. No way would a goose break away from the flock so long as the lead goose was still flying forward. What this goose was doing was defying nature.
As this lone goose came within shooting distance of Sammy Dee, Sammy arose and shot the goose with a 12 gauge shotgun. His shot was accurate and the goose fell to the ground. As Sammy Dee approached the fallen goose he noticed a metal band attached to the goose’s leg. He removed the band from the bird’s leg. The aluminum band had this inscription written on it: “Call Jack Miner, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. My Grace is sufficient for thee. 2 Corinthians 12:9”
God had answered Sammy Dee’s prayers! God had sent him a special message on the wings of a Canadian goose. Now Sammy Dee knew that God could forgive him and save him. But how did this goose get this band placed on its leg? Sammy Dee called information in Kingston, Ontario, Canada and asked for the phone number of a man named Jack Miner. The phone number was given to him and Sammy called the home of Jack Miner, the man whose name was inscribed on the aluminum band that was on the goose’s leg. When Sammy made the phone call a man answered the phone. Sammy asked for Jack Miner but the man on the other end of the phone said his father, Jack Miner, had recently died. Sammy Dee told the man about the goose he had shot and the message that was inscribed on the aluminum band. This brought joy to the Jack Miner family to hear this story. Jack Miner’s son told Sammy Dee that his father had caught that goose in a net trap up in Canada. But before he could kill the bird to eat it, God spoke to Jack Miner to make a band to put on the goose’s leg and to inscribe the Scripture found in 2 Corinthians 12:9, and then to release the bird and let if fly away. That Canadian goose was released and began to fly. The hand of God was on that goose. It flew until it joined other geese that were flying south. The goose flew over 1,000 miles south until it reached the State of Tennessee as part of a large flock of flying geese. When Sammy Dee blew on his goose caller, God made that goose break away from instinct and the call of nature, and led the bird into shooting distance so Sammy Dee could shoot a goose that carried a message of salvation attached to its leg. Sammy Dee became a Christian. He was baptized in Jesus Name and received the gift of the Holy Ghost.
This story took place a number of years ago and since then Sammy Dee has passes away. This story was told by Sammy Dee to an evangelist named Richard Hancock, whom Sammy Dee took fishing with him one day. That day as they fished together, Sammy told Richard Hancock his story and gave him the metal band that had been on the goose’s leg. He asked the evangelist to take the band “…and wherever you go I want you to tell people what God did for Sammy Dee.” When Richard Hancock preaches this story he shows the metal band to the congregation. I have personally seen the metal band, read the inscription and the band has one small indentation where one of the bb’s of the shotgun blast hit the metal band.
God works in strange ways but His ways are always in line with salvation and hope for people who are down and out and feel there is no way out. God will always make a way where there seems to be no way. As the Scriptures state, “With God all things are possible” and “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
Joseph Gutierrez
