I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33 NIV)
Another club championship! Fifty-four holes of what many consider less-than-fun golf.
Let’s start with some shots I witnessed over the weekend. A top player’s drive hit a tree on the right side of #6 before exiting the property left of said hole. A former club champion “pushing” his tee ball on the par-3 seventh into the sixth fairway. A “draw” off #10 bypassed the 18th before coming to rest on #17, and lest I forget, the Saturday collage of a competitor finishing bogey, bogey, bogey, triple, double.
Not wanting to be left out of the stroke-wasting fun, I deposited a Titleist in the water fronting #11 not once but all three days!
Those shots no doubt caused some pain on the course, but it’s the various pains off the course that I’ll remember most about this tournament.
The member whose wife underwent a six-hour double mastectomy to combat early breast cancer.
After losing his anesthesiologist wife to a heart attack this summer, a member discovered via a national news story that her cardiac arrest was caused by intentional contamination of an IV bag by another doctor.
The member who approached me on the 15th fairway of the final round requested some time together following a conversation he and his wife had that morning.
Not to mention the complication with my wife’s chemo drip that required an extra trip to the hospital and a bonus day of recovery this go-’round.
Life is a lot harder than a golf tournament. That’s why today’s verse is so encouraging to me. To be clear, it’s not the ‘experiencing trouble’ that’s encouraging; it’s knowing that it will be ok if we put our faith in Jesus. And I want others to see that truth.
In the same conversation with his disciples, Jesus gave this analogy: “A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come, but when her baby is born, she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.
So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again, and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy” (John 16:21-22).
Our tagline at Links Players is “helping you change the conversation” where you play golf. How often have you heard the redundant phrase “I’ll take it” after a bad shot turns out ok? I have a new one I will try out when one of my bad shots turns out bad—“Take heart!”
When someone in my group inevitably asks what that means, I will step into that open door. I will say something on the order of “Let me share a little something I’ve learned. On the golf course, you will have trouble….”
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the game of golf that brings us together with others. Grant us the wisdom to know when to change the conversation.