Shoot low, Sheriff

In my very simple southern life talking to God was often, expected, and typically understood. We went to bed with a prayer; we ate with a prayer; we started events and parted ways with a prayer; we prayed with all emotions, in celebration and sadness, in fellowship and funeral. We prayed out loud, silently, and in unison. We prayed as children and as adults and were taught that prayer without ceasing means not only constantly but as long as you are alive. I am no stranger to talking to God.
In addition I believe with all my being that God hears my prayers. He hears the prayers that I have no right to whisper. He hears the silent prayers and the prayers I sing as I travel the highways and byways. He hears the tear soaked prayers and the shouts of joy. He hears me when I say, 'God, I'm not ready to talk about it yet.' Sometimes as I lay my head down at night I say, 'God, do you mind if I just talk to you until I fall asleep?' And I know he hears me.
I remember as a children being taught prayers to say and memorizing the Lord’s Prayer. My daddy used to jokingly say, 'praise the Lord and the holy ghost, who eats the fastest gets the most!' It seemed so rogue to me as a child that I would only say it to myself quietly and never as a replacement for 'turning thanks'.
Listening to God, on the other hand is not as easy. Don't get me wrong, I believe God communicates with us. I don't necessarily believe he uses an audible voice but I do believe that in many ways he can get our attention, convey his instructions, show his approval or disapproval in some cases, and grant our requests if he so chooses. He has his ways and they are not our ways.
Thinking about God, the father, and how he communicates with me makes me think about the way my earthly father talked to me, what he said, what he meant. Those that knew my daddy knew that he had a very colorful way of speaking and a very colorful way of saying nothing. He was funny and jovial and descriptive in a manner somewhat like I am. Among his favorite sayings, “horse mess and gun smoke!", “He don't even suspect nothin" and my personal favorite, "shoot low, sheriff. He's riding a Shetland."
I spend a lot of time in the car by myself between radio stations and somewhere down one of those long highways I began to ponder the thought, if God, my heavenly father said, “shoot low, sheriff, he's riding a Shetland" what would it mean?
I guess I would interpret it this way: He referred to me as sheriff so I must have some authority and probably a large amount of responsibility. I would imagine that this is a position of respect and likely conflict or controversy. It's also a job and a title, not my name, so I would expect that he was going to address something to do with work. He’s telling me to shoot, destroy, disenable, render un-operational someone and he's telling me to do it in a logical manner. If he's riding a short horse I need to aim low. If the enemy is walking on stilts shooting low might not be the best option. If alcoholism is my battle I should probably stay out of bars and away from places where drinking is prominent. If I have difficulty staying out of gossip sessions I should stay away from the social settings that enable that type of behavior.
Knowing my enemies, taking the path of logic, with the instruction of God…I think I could draw a few more points out of this but instead I will ask you to leave your comments. Use your imagination, what can you see in this?