They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead. (John 20:9, NIV)
In these days of medical uncertainty, we are reminded that doctors “practice” medicine. Many cases are simple enough, and the prescription is quickly given. But others are far more complicated, and often so because every patient is different. “Common side effects” may not occur for you at all; rarer ones attack your system.
The same is true in golf instruction. Teaching pros start with basics that are common to us all. But we also each come with different body types and athletic capabilities. Sometimes you have to modify.
Beyond this, golf is also much about experimentation. Ben Hogan famously said that the game is to be dug out of the dirt, and most have taken this to mean that you can only find your way to excellence through hard work. If you’re going to latch onto the secret in golf, you’ll need to find it out for yourself.
Much more of life is uncertain than we normally admit. It’s too uncomfortable to live with questions and doubts, so we avoid them as best we can. We move toward the predictable, even at the risk of being called boring. So when life gives us unexpected circumstances and unwanted challenges, we don’t always know what to do. This can be all the more true for men and women of God, for we are the ones who believe that he has everything under his care. If that is so, we ask, where is God right now, in the midst of this unwanted thing I am going through?
What we know for sure this Easter is what we have always known on Resurrection Day: Jesus is alive!If you find yourself asking such a question, you are not the first. The psalmists and the prophets, who knew God in their heart of hearts, were often left to asking the same. They could not rest easily in the uncertain mix of life.
If ever there was a time when this should have been different, it was during the life and ministry of Jesus. With God incarnated right before their eyes, shouldn’t every question have been answered? Yet this is where we see that the problem does not lie with God, but with us. We are the ones with a limited view, unable to see all that God is doing. This was true even for the disciples.
During this Easter week, when we consider the death and resurrection of the Lord, we have an advantage the disciples did not. We know the end of the story. Jesus rose from the dead, unlocking the hold of death. The poor disciples! Even when standing before an empty tomb, they were still mired in confusion. They did not fully understand all that God was doing.
This is an Easter week unlike any other in your lifetime. You will not be among your brothers and sisters in Christ, celebrating the most wondrous of days. But that day and all it stands for holds it own. What we know for sure this Easter is what we have always known on Resurrection Day: Jesus is alive! His salvation lifts us to life! Hold fast, dear friend, to this certainty.
—
Jeff Hopper
April 7, 2020
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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