I am a big fan of golf. I love to watch it and especially love to play it. I started today thinking about golf, especially the mental part. I am playing in a match play tournament this week and as I was lying in bed this morning I began mentally playing each hole of the course I will be playing. It occurred to me (or it was divinely placed in my thinking) how much golf and life do intersect.
As I stand on the first tee, I observe the fairway. Bunker on the right, tree line on the left. Then I place my ball on the wooden tee with the goal of reaching that little hole about 300-400 yards away in as few shots as possible. But I am not thinking about how to go about reaching that in the best possible way. No, I am thinking about how far I want to hit that ball. I take the club back and swing perfectly through and the ball sails beautifully up into the sky, long and straight. I nod my thanks to the others who kindly compliment the drive and take my place confidently in the golf cart. Whew!
As we drive down the fairway I take note of the beautiful day. I thank God for blessing me with the opportunity to play that day and hum a tune from the Christian cd I was listening to in the car. The sky is so blue and the birds chatter is peaceful and calming. We reach my ball. Wait, what is this? My ball has found its way behind a tree and is nestled in between two protruding roots. Well (expletive)!
The song in my head has been replaced with a piercing noise, similar to a deployed rocket right before it hits. My positive affirmations about the beautiful day are replaced with why me, why does this always happen to me and the ever popular, "well this is typical for me" chatter. My only choice is to chip out and take my medicine. The chip does not go as planned, I hit again and then again, to finally reach the green. My playing partners are there waiting on me, their looks of sympathy wasted because I refuse to make eye contact. We putt out and go on with the next hole.
How often does that happen to us at the beginning of what seems to be a beautiful day. Something goes wrong and we quickly become negative and defensive. We blame God, or we blame our past sins and take the "I deserve what I get" attitude, which effects the rest of our day. We may have to take a detour or our plans get changed at the last minute and we find ourselves exasperated and distracted. Other people and their lives go unnoticed because we are fixated on our situation and what we perceive as an inconvenience to our life.
God did not promise life would be without its challenges. Instead, He wants us to take those challenges and apply His Word to all we encounter on a daily basis. Yes, even the days spent on the golf course. I strive to do that, and fall short quite often! But the even better news is: He knows we will fail and He will still love us. He will pick us up when we have fallen and the promise of better days, (glorious days!!)are ahead if we allow God to direct our actions and our thoughts daily.
