“The most important shot in golf, is the next one.”
These are the words of a golfing legend, Ben Hogan. He knew what it took to be a winner. He also knew what it felt like to 3 putt from 4 meters, on the final hole of the Masters and throw away the title!
Life is a lot like golf. We get better at it as we practice. You can’t expect to grab your clubs once in a blue moon, and think you’re going to break the course record. It takes hours of mishit shots, lost balls and hitting out of the rough to make a champion. To succeed… we have to fail. Because it’s through failure, that we learn and grow and improve.
Are you refusing to take risks in life because you are too afraid of failing? That, in itself, is failure. By not taking risks you are failing to live, to grow and to improve! Sometimes we need to be in life’s “rough” so that we can learn resilience. And the one thing we must never forget, is that we can’t do anything about the shot we have just played, but we can focus on the next one. Your next thought, action and decision is the most important one, because it will determine your future.
Golfers have caddies who carry their bags and give them advice about club selection and the course. In golf, caddies walk behind golfers to rake up the bunkers and replace the divots. In the same way, God walks behind us to clean up the mess that we have made and to prepare us for the next chapter in our lives. He makes something beautiful out of our mistakes. Caddies walk next to golfers to encourage them. God walks next to us, every step of the way, to encourage us to keep going. No matter what has happened in our past, He is concerned about here and now. Before the day’s round begins, caddies walk the course to make sure of every little detail. In the same way, God goes ahead of us to prepare the way.
The one thing however, that caddies will not do, is actually play the shots.
God is with us every step of the way, but the way you choose to live, is up to you. It’s completely your choice. God wants the next thing you say to be encouraging, but it’s up to you. God wants the next thing you do to be for the benefit of others, but it’s up to you. God wants the next thought you have to be a positive one, but it’s up to you.
God wants your life to be one of significance. It’s totally up to you!
Mark Davidson
