“Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” (Psalm 46:10, NLT)
Do you struggle with putting? Do you have many putters in your garage? Do you wish you could find the secret to rolling the ball in the hole? When my friends ask me how I am playing, I usually respond, “If I am putting well, I am playing well.”
There is a saying that if you want to play on the PGA tour you can’t just be a good putter, you have to be a great putter! I’m long past dreaming about getting to that level, but there’s always room for improvement, right?
I am fortunate to spend time around quite a few PGA professionals, and I get tips from time to time. One such pro is Ray Carrasco. Not only does Ray help coach several of our area Links Fellowships, but he is also highly respected as one of the best short game instructors here. His advice to me on putting was the following:
– The putt is a hand-and-arm motion played without body movement. Be still!
– Swing in a pendulum like way.
– Bring the club back straight from the ball and return along the same line.
– Keep your head down at impact and make good contact.
Believe it or not, I forget these great tips from time to time. It’s the common problem we have as golfers. We read and watch and hear so many bits of instruction, but who remembers them all when it comes time to play? So we blame it on our clubs! We start shopping for a new putter, or looking for an old one. What I do is go to my garage and pull out 5-10 of my old ones, trying to find that magic. But as a good friend tells me, “It’s not the putter, it’s the puttee.”
If we take time to step back from all the distractions that come our way, we can more easily remember what God is like and what he has for us to do.Golf tips aren’t the only thing we quickly forget. How about God’s instruction? The Bible is full of many, many things God wants us to know about him. The last book in the Bible is called Revelation, but really the whole thing reveals God’s character and purposes. In it, God has given us both narrow commands and broad wisdom. If we read our Bibles well—and remember what we read!—we position ourselves for much better living in Christ.
So how about today’s verse? “Be still, and know that I am God!” God was speaking directly through the psalmists who wrote this song, and his emphasis was that we must trust him. He never forgets what is best. If we take time to step back from all the distractions that come our way, we can more easily remember what God is like and what he has for us to do.
Golf is a game of action. But we’ll fail if we try to keep all our parts moving at the same time. That’s why Ray told me to be still over my putter, moving only my arms and hands. Life is about action, too. But sometimes, if we get going a thousand directions at once, we just tie ourself up in knots. We need to slow way down, be still, and let God do the moving.
—
Dereck Wong
February 8, 2021
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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