The Parson's Page
  • Home
  • Articles
  • Sermons
  • C David Hess
    • A Raging Moderate
  • About

When Your Ball Is in the Rough---Rejoice!

3/3/1998

 
Picture
"When your ball is in the rough---Rejoice!" That's the last thing any golfer would say! When your ball lands on the fairway, or on the green, or in the hole---then you rejoice---not when your ball lands in the rough, or in the sand or the water! The latter are occasions for other utterances. Yet when you think about it, golf's most memorable shots are those made from the rough. It is the great "recovery shots" that make the highlights on the sports broadcasts---the shot from the sand trap into the hole or the shot curved out of the trees onto the green. A few years ago a clip that made all the sports broadcasts was of a golfer climbing a tree and hitting his ball off the limb on which it had come to rest. Those are golf's great shots. Anybody can hit great shots from the fairway (I may be a possible exception). The remarkable thing is hitting a great shot from the rough. Then there is truly rejoicing.

As in golf, life is full of hazards, and our balls do not always land on the fairway. Sometimes we are "in the rough" because of misfortune or our own wrong decisions and moral failures. No one likes being in the rough. When we find ourselves there we may utter expletives and be filled with discouragement and self-recrimination, but we also should rejoice for there is a good side to being in the rough on life's course.

Just look at what made Heaven's broadcast, Holy Scripture. . There would scarcely be any Bible at all if we tore out all the stories of people whose lives were in the rough. The Bible contains almost nothing but such stories---the Hebrews in slavery, Job overwhelmed by tragedy, the woman caught in adultery, Peter denying his Lord. These stories are there because God's power is demonstrated in the rough.

Thus we find Paul rejoicing in the rough spots of his life.. When he asked God to deliver him from a "thorn" in his flesh, God would not do it. God's answer was, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." There in life's rough Paul rejoiced. He declared, "So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." (II Corinthians 12:9-10).

At another point, Paul almost sounds as if he is rejoicing in the abundance of sin because it provides an opportunity to reveal the even greater abundance of God's grace. He recognizes the possibility of his being misunderstood and hastens to add, "What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means!" (Romans 6:1-2). But nevertheless the point is there. Our moral failures can even serve to demonstrate the greater abundance of God's grace. In that we can rejoice, even though our attitude toward our own sin should be predominantly one of sorrow and repentance.

So the next time you find your ball in life's rough---Rejoice! There is an opportunity for God's power to be revealed in you! One of life's and God's great recovery shots may be at hand!


©1998 C. David Hess

    Parsonally Speaking

    Categories

    All
    Current Events/Hot Issues
    Other Articles
    Personal Confessions
    The Bible & Christianity
    The Church
    The Darker Side
    The Lighter Side
    The Movies

    Archives

    September 2014
    October 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    February 2012
    December 2011
    April 2011
    December 2010
    June 2010
    April 2010
    December 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    September 2008
    June 2008
    March 2008
    February 2008
    November 2007
    October 2007
    September 2007
    May 2007
    March 2007
    January 2007
    December 2006
    September 2006
    June 2006
    May 2006
    March 2006
    February 2006
    January 2006
    December 2005
    September 2005
    April 2005
    March 2005
    November 2004
    June 2004
    May 2004
    April 2004
    March 2004
    December 2003
    October 2003
    September 2003
    May 2003
    March 2003
    January 2003
    September 2002
    August 2002
    April 2002
    October 2001
    September 2001
    July 2001
    March 2001
    December 2000
    November 2000
    September 2000
    August 2000
    May 2000
    March 2000
    January 2000
    November 1999
    April 1999
    March 1999
    December 1998
    September 1998
    August 1998
    May 1998
    April 1998
    March 1998
    February 1998
    January 1998
    December 1997
    August 1997
    June 1997
    May 1997
    April 1997
    January 1997
    December 1996
    November 1996
    October 1996
    September 1996
    August 1996
    July 1996
    June 1996
    May 1996
    April 1996
    March 1996
    February 1996
    January 1996
    December 1995
    November 1995
    August 1995
    April 1995
    January 1994
    February 1993
    January 1993


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.