When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” (Exodus 32:1, ESV)
Golfers, both professional and amateur, find a pace of play that suits them. Sometimes that pace is a reflection of their personality and sometimes it’s just how they learned the game. Peer pressure is also a factor, especially for us amateurs. Several years ago, the golf committee at my club published a letter that basically said, “If you aren’t finished with 18 holes within three-and-a-half hours after you teed off, you need to speed up.”
It is still part of our club’s culture that most rounds finish in around three hours and change, so when my partner had to stop after we had played the back nine holes last week, I assumed I’d be able to play the front nine by myself in about an hour. But as I drove down the hill to number five, 30 minutes into my hour, I waved to a twosome coming up number six. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that they were behind a foursome. I reset my expectations.
I was glad that I hadn’t responded to the delay on the golf course like many of the Israelites had responded to the delay in Moses coming down from Mount Sinai.Forty-five minutes later, I drove my cart to the tee box for number nine, where the twosome had already been patiently waiting for ten minutes. As I walked up to the man and woman, both guests of the club, I said, “You’ve been getting a lot of visiting time in, I see,” and they invited me to play the final hole with them. I did, and it was, without question, the best hole of golf I played that day.
As a bonus, I made two new friends, was invited to play at their club, and got to talk to them both about Links Players. What God will do with that is unknown, but I was glad that I hadn’t responded to the delay on the golf course like many of the Israelites had responded to the delay in Moses coming down from Mount Sinai.
There are always delays in life. Traffic lights turn red, airplanes have crews arrive late, the group in front of you loses a ball. The secret to dealing with all of that is, as my friend Terry says, to look for God in the delays. When some lab work I needed to get done was put off for more than a week, I spent much of the first day asking God what he was up to. I still don’t know and maybe never will, but God was in that delay.
Remember this: The light will turn green, the plane will take off, the golf ball search will end. And just as Moses came back as he promised, so will Jesus. But where will your spirit be during the delay? May it be looking for God, because he can often be found there.
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Lewis Greer
October 15, 2019
Copyright 2019 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.