The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. (Proverbs 16:33, NIV)
I finally joined my friend Tim for Scottish golf in his second homeland on Sunday afternoon, playing the Brora course, which is noted for the sheep and cattle that tend its rough. It had been several years since Tim and I last played together, so it was great to be able to do it now and in this special place.
We came to the end of the outward nine, where the last hole is a one-shotter, a par-3. Our third friend, Titch, put his ball on the green. I sent mine left into the bunker. Tim then stepped up and hit what he described as a half-skulled 9-iron. “Get lucky,” he begged.
The ball hit short of the green but found the right line and didn’t stop rolling until it gently fell into the cup. A hole-in-one. Luck indeed!
Luck, you probably know, is not a word in God’s vocabulary. It is a word we golfers use for things that shouldn’t happen but do and things that should happen but don’t. In Scotland, a lot of the game can seem like luck.
God determines the outcome of the dice and he may allow your misstruck shot to find the hole for the shot of a lifetime.I’ve had Christian friends through the years who place the word luck just beneath their list of no-no epithets. It’s not far from cussing. You can’t rightly say it if you honor God’s sovereignty and omniscience. God is never surprised, not by luck or whatever you want to call it. I get that. I’ll never argue with a friend who is careful in revering God. But I am often surprised in life, and when we’re speaking of seemingly incidental things, like up-front parking places or a sunny hour for our picnic on an otherwise rainy day, luck is a word that works as well as fortuitous or fortunate or favorable. These words don’t demean the little blessings of God, and they may serve to keep us from implying that God’s main purpose is to satisfy all our creature comforts.
God will do what God will do. He determines the outcome of the dice and he may allow your misstruck shot to find the hole for the shot of a lifetime. We must remember this as often as possible, in worship and preaching and prayer. But if you forget once in a while, it doesn’t mean you’re down on your luck or up on your sin. It just means you need to keep recalibrating your spiritual eyes to see God’s hand in as many things as possible.
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Jeff Hopper
August 22, 2019
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.