The Rules of Golf have received a facelift in recent years. Few subjects in the game get folks talking more than a good rules kerfuffle. One rule that hasn’t been changed but ranks high on the list for many is that a perfectly struck shot can settle down in the confines of a divot, and absolutely nothing can be done about it.
Our 7-month-old Golden Retriever is named Divot! He likes to plow the earth around my hydrangeas.
It’s not uncommon for believers to feel like they’ve done everything right – pulled the right club, executed the shot – and still drew a bad lie. How is that fair?
My husband and I recently received a long-awaited answer to prayer (more on that another time!). There were many heartaches along the way. Many trials and many lessons. I wanted to write a Facebook post detailing part of the testimony and sent an early version of my writing to a friend who was central to the story. I asked for her permission and feedback.
In her response, she asked if I wanted to add that we had to be open to however God chose to make it happen. In other words, that we had surrendered to his will. It was a wise edit!
How many of us have memorized what’s called The Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV), in which Jesus instructs the disciples in how to pray?
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’”
I confess that I haven’t always prayed “Your will be done.” Many times, in fact, I’ve prayed for what I wanted and asked God to make it happen my way. But not this time.
For years, my husband and I prayed for his will to be done. And throughout the process, we asked for God to reveal the steps he wanted us to take. We prayed for peace. We prayed for wisdom. We prayed diligently about the details.
In Psalm 37:4 (NIV), David writes, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
To delight in someone is to know them well. When we know God well, our desires begin to mirror his desires.
Sometimes the divots of life are there to strengthen us. Sometimes they are part of the plan.
But sometimes, we’ve done everything our way. Prepared our way. Executed shots our way. And then asked God to bless our way. Simply put: We put ourselves in the divot.
It’s important to know the difference!
PRAYER: Father God, we thank you for forgiving us of the times we kept you out of our plans. We desire for your will in all things. We give you all the glory!