“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9, NIV)
I don’t buy into the “that’s clean living” logic when someone’s ball finds the “90 percent air” of a tree.
A member’s bounce? There may be something to that one, as somebody familiar with a course may play to an area knowing the terrain will send their ball a certain direction.
But I do firmly believe in divine appointments, or God Winks, as SQuire Rushnell calls them. These aren’t coincidences or chance meetings. They are God’s way of letting you know he’s got it under control.
Take this example.
“You want to take the dog for a walk?” I asked my wife, who is undergoing chemotherapy treatment for rare appendix cancer.
“Give me 10 minutes,” she replied, so I burned the time watching a healing video sent to me by Robson Ranch Links Fellowship leader Mark Dean.
Not long into the walk our dog made a pit stop, which allowed the man trailing us to close the gap.
“Is that Drew?” he asked. “Bill Zukoski here.”
Bill is the founder and director of Practice Ministries, an organization with the mission of making disciples through father-son and father-daughter Bible studies, which I’ve participated in with all three of my kids.
He led with, “Hey, your name came up in a conversation with Mark Dean.” Yep. Same guy mentioned four paragraphs ago.
I introduced Bill to my wife, who isn’t much for conversation or unplanned encounters in her weakened state.
As they exchanged pleasantries, I remembered that every November Bill sends me an email saying, “It’s Hamilton Day at Practice Ministries. How may I pray over your family today?”
At the risk of breaching my wife’s trust, I felt led to go out on a limb. “Bill, I know it’s not November, but can I put in an early prayer request? Susan is suffering from appendix cancer.”
Thanks to her sunglasses and face mask, I couldn’t discern her level of disdain for me in that moment.
The gamble paid off though, as it turned out Bill had beaten colon cancer five years ago on the exact same chemotherapy combination prescribed to Susan.
Let the gravity of the hope that this connection instilled in Susan sink in for a minute.
I walked on clouds the next 30 minutes, as the two of them compared notes and my wife got firsthand reassurance from someone who has traveled this journey ahead of her.
My favorite part of the walk? When we got to a dead end and had to choose a direction, we asked Bill, “Which way are you going?”
He said, “It doesn’t matter. I never take this route, I just happened to be on Fieldcrest today. You choose.”
Coincidence? No chance in my mind. I take heart in today’s verse, believing the Lord our God is indeed with us everywhere we go.
And on that particular day, I’d even say he gave Susan a wink.
—
Drew Hamilton
April 20, 2020
Copyright 2020 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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