When I was in my earlier years, I played quite a bit of golf. Then one day I was on the 7th hole on a course in Sidney Nebraska called Hillside. It was named that for a reason because it was trying to hit that ball from hill to hill. If you could, all was good. If you couldn’t, things would go sideways quickly. Anyway. back to that 7th hole. I had hit my ball up on the side of a hill and when I went to find it, well, it wasn’t there where I thought it was. I lost my temper, through my club, it hit a tree and broke, packed my clubs, went to the clubhouse, sold my clubs, and never played again. This game was so frustrating for me and it was time to hang it up. I had played sports since I was in Junior High School and losing my temper was never a part of me having fun. I was a four year letter man in football, basketball, and track in High School. I continued to play basketball through college (Intramurals) and Town Team hoops after that. All those years and never a technical foul, bowled for years and never kicked the machines, and then–GOLF!!
I was watching golf on TV the other day and I was watching, I thought, this is a lot like life. As the players would tee off, the ball would go straight, left, right, sometimes end in the rough, sometimes in a bunker, sometimes out of bounds, and sometimes right in the middle of the fairway. We go through life and all our shots are headed straight and end up right where we wanted them to be. Then life goes sideways and we end up in the rough parts or in a bunker, which I’ll call a BIG hole. Then what happens? Do we have the skill, knowledge, and wisdom to navigate the course set before us? We always hope that we do, but sometimes we need help. That help comes from friends, family, co-workers, and, from what I see, when all else fails, we turn to God. I wonder, why God takes a back seat when we deal with problems? Why do we think we can handle the rough times and BIG holes by ourselves? Is it pride? Is it we don’t know how, or don’t want to, humble ourselves and admit we need help? Friends, family, and co-workers can grow tired of our drama and quit listening, but God is there 24/7, will always listen, and will always show you a way out. 1st Corinthians chapter 10 tells us God will never put more on us than we can handle and He will always provide a way out.
Have a good week all. SMILE God loves YOU!!
