Lessons From Golf

I found out today something I already suspected. I am not a golfer! I am also very OK with that. I learned a valuable lesson today though. One is that if there is a tree I'll probably hit it with a golf ball, and the next one, and the next one!

The more valuable lesson though for me had spiritual implications. See no matter what club I used I could not get the ball to do what I wanted. No matter what way I faced I hit a tree. The hole was but an illusion. I did not seek advice beyond a question or two but kept plugging away expecting different results. Unfortunately the same things kept happening. I hit ball, ball hits tree, repeat. Finally after some frustration at my inability to do this seemingly simple task I gave up on the 15Th hole!

So what does this have to do with anything spiritual? Well on the drive home I was reminded how much of my life I spent trying to hit God's targets with my strength. No matter how hard I tried I kept missing the mark. I could not move in the right direction because I always thought I knew a better way. My own. All I did was frustrate myself though. Repeatedly God would show me what He wanted me to do and I would invariably take off in the opposite direction to try to achieve the result. I wore myself out going in circles to get back to the place God originally wanted me at to begin with.

I finally learned that I had to do what I did today on the golf course. Give up. I had to learn to surrender to God's will not my own. Only by listening to His plan, His directions, His goals could I achieve the target He had for me.

Sometimes I have to be reminded of that lesson. I know that only by following the Master can I hit the goals God has. I am glad God reminded me of that today because I am sure He has a reason...maybe tomorrow He will show me a target to aim for. I want to be ready to surrender before I start! Surrender to His will!