Receiving a Golf Lesson
Receiving a Golf Lesson
I need to tell a story of how one day I received the message to preach for that coming Sunday. I had began the day with endless repeats of the question "What am I going to do?" Bills needed paying and required far more funds then what few jobs were producing. Your classic financial bind.
So I was sitting around worrying, one of my many occupations. Having a construction business one of the prerequisites as owner is the ability to worry. As I entertained my limited options I heard the Lord say, "Get up and dust yourself off and go golfing resting in me." I uh, well lets just say the Lord did not have to tell me twice as sometimes would be needed in other directives spoken from above. Feeling confident, as if God is on my side confident, I told my wife Marcia,
"I'm going golfing in obedience to the Lord, bye.
"Hey wait a minute what do you mean, in obedience to the Lord?
"Honey I have to go, I didn't pursue this, it's a command from God to go and, 'r-e-s-t in the Lord. Eventually I prevailed since God was on my side and off I went.
I drove to the Melbourne golf course singing praise songs and singing in tongues with interpretations. It was a wonderful time.
"I'm trusting, I'm resting, I'm trusting, I'm resting.
I'm saying to myself, wow this is great we need to do this more often Lord. "Do you think?
"Sure, definitely, I mean, well I mean help me to do this with You more.
After much preparation I got up to the first tee and lost my Christianity. I hit the ball to only God knows where, and it has yet to be found even after many failed attempts. After slicing the ball it was as if I had spiritually stepped onto a slip n' slide and slid all the way down to the gates of hell, with the devil opening the door suggesting for me to come on in, as though I had knocked or something.
It is amazing how quickly we can allow ourselves to move from a mountain top experience by descending into a pathetic display of flesh, where we thank God that only unfamiliar heathens witnessed our pitiful self indulgence.
God only has to stir the waters of our soul to reveal our need of his grace, especially when things thought long ago settled are surfaced.
I knew there was a message in what took place for that Sunday morning, I only wish I could have observed it in someone else instead of personally experiencing the embarrassment that comes of having simply lost a golf ball.
Resting in God is a choice we make in Christ even on a golf course where the lessons learned sometimes require a few holes of golf.
It took 9 holes for me.
-Michael Smith
