“In the world you will have trouble…” (John 16:33, NIV)
You just hit your best drive of the day! Great contact, good ball flight, and you watch it roll until it stops, squarely in the middle of the fairway. Doesn’t that always bring a smile? A few minutes later you approach the ball and, oh no! The smile disappears as you realize you are in a divot the size of the Grand Canyon. Ouch!
One of the great things about golf is that we play by the rules. We police ourselves and yes, we play the ball as it lies. Most courses have a few local rules or ground-under-repair areas, but for the vast majority of our shots, we play the ball where we find it.
Even when playing during our best season’s tour-like conditions, we all know that there are times when your ball ends up in a “bad lie”—sometimes because of a poor shot and sometimes due to no fault of your own. But that is part of the game. How you execute the next shot depends as much on your preparation as it does your skill level.
If you have ever watched the tour professionals practice, you know that they hit a lot of balls. While they spend most of their practice time hitting shots that will keep them out of trouble, you also see them working from a lot of different places and in a lot of different conditions. The very best players spend hours practicing shots from bad lies and all the other possible shots they might be facing during a competitive round.
How we face times of trial depends on how well we are prepared to deal with them.
The best players all have teachers too and they listen to them during these long and intense times of preparation. Because of the tour pros’ diligence, they have a very high degree of confidence when they encounter a bad lie or some other challenging shot during a tournament. We can easily make a spiritual parallel here.
When we study Scripture, we are preparing ourselves for all the things we might face in the course of our lives. In our verse today, Jesus promised believers that we will indeed have trouble in this life. However he also exhorts us to “take heart.” Why? Because he has “overcome the world”!
In life we sometimes find ourselves in a bad situation. Often it is because of a poor choice, but many times it is just the way it is. Family situations, health issues, or the loss of someone close bring times of great stress. How we face those times of trial depends on how well we are prepared to deal with them. Scripture instructs us on how we should live as believes, both in the good times as well as during those difficult times. When Jesus comes into our life, we receive the Holy Spirit and the very power we need to live in such a way as to bring him glory even in those most stressful and challenging times.
Reading God’s word and understanding how to apply it in your life is our spiritual equivalent of hours of practice on the range and many rounds on the course. Please join me today and every day in preparing for the good times and the challenges of this life. (And here’s a Matthew West song to help you move in this direction.)
—
Marty Jacobus
October 21, 2020
Copyright 2020 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
Photo by Courtney Cook on Unsplash