When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. (Exodus 16:15, NIV)
Most of us play golf by going from secret to secret.
In the real world of our lives, we don’t have time to practice like tour pros or dedicated amateurs. We have jobs and families, and frankly, we’re more interested in sitting around the table inside after the round than we are in going back out to the range and working out the troubles that were so openly revealed to us on the course that day.
So we take the path of least resistance and keep an eye out for those little tips and tricks that get us through the round with the least disaster possible. It’s not the way to play golf but it’s a way; usually it’s our way.
More odd is that we can rarely identify these secrets to a friend.
“You played great today, Jeff. What did you do out there that made it work?”
We find that what God gives us is good. It works. It satisfies. It grows us.“Well, I, uh, sort of came up with this thought on about the third hole. Something I’d read in Golf Digest a couple weeks back popped into my mind and I kind of adjusted my grip and took it back a little more inside and it just felt OK.”
Sound familiar? It should. It’s the hemming and hawing of a golfer who really doesn’t know what was working out there. Or why. Or whether it will ever work again.
In truth, God’s provision for us is not so dissimilar to this. We don’t know why he is giving us what he is giving us, but if we are willing to go with it—to really trust him—we find that what he gives us is good. It works. It satisfies. It grows us.
When the Israelites were at the end of their second or third rope—yes, they were only six weeks removed from Egyptian slavery and they had taken to grumbling time and again—God provided for their hunger with bread from heaven. That’s right, it rained something that, well, looked like coriander seed and tasted like honey, and was altogether unlike anything they had ever eaten before. Manna. That’s not what God called it, that’s what the people called it. Manna. What is it?
Sometimes when God gives us what we need—notice that I did not say “what we are looking for”—we are tempted to say, “And just what is this, Lord?” But if we will keep our mouths shut long enough to find out, we will see that it really is his provision and it is really, really excellent.
—
Jeff Hopper
Originally published January 19, 2011
Copyright 2011 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.