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“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send
in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of
everything I have said to you” (John 14:26).
The fifth green of the east course where my husband and I play
golf has snatched many a golf ball from players with less than
perfect swings. The slanted hills and wooded ruff are
treacherous enough, but the men’s tee overlooks a deep ditch.
My husband set up his ball as he normally does hoping to hit far
enough left to avoid the slope that leads into the woods. He
swung, but misjudged his back swing. The ball hit the top of the
ditch and rolled toward the bottom.
Making his way around the left side of the gaping hole, I
thought I saw his ball trapped by a jut in the slope toward the
top of the ditch. “An easy retrieval,” my husband boasted. As
he bent down to pick up the ball, he lost his footing and fell head
over heels into the belly of the ditch. He was uninjured, but the
cell phone had been pulled from his belt and was somewhere in
the vast array of flowering ragweed and pollen.
“No problem,” my husband said with a twinkle in his eye. He
knew the people who lived in a nearby house. I’ll go there and
call the phone number. When you hear it ring, you can get it.” It
sounded simple enough. However, there was one glitch. My
hearing is directionally compromised. I heard it ring, but I had
not a clue from where the sound came.
Watching my step carefully, I headed toward where I thought
the sound might be coming from. I stood in the middle of the
knee-deep jungle, about to cry when I felt a lump underneath
my foot. Holding on to nearby bramble, I bent to see what I was
standing on. It was the cell phone, thankfully undamaged. “I’ve
got it!” I said. Soon after, we resumed play, being careful to
avoid searching for lost balls in deep ravines.
Sometimes believers are faced with a large trench to cross, and
there is no bridge. We give it our best shot, but our efforts fall
flat. We try to rescue our failed efforts on our own and find
ourselves in a far worse situation. Fortunately, God does not
leave us in the belly of the ditch groping to find solutions by
accident. He has provided us with a Counselor, ready and
willing to direct our course. He is at work within us, regardless
of our awareness. Of course, we are more conscious of His
presence when we are praying and reading the Bible. The
believer should never tire of these venues for guidance and
direction. Because we are human, biological needs dictate the
inability to be on our knees or reading twenty-four seven.
Thankfully, the Spirit’s instruction is not limited to exterior
religiosity.
From the mundane to the marvelous, from the routine to the
radical, from the disappointing to the delirious, the Holy Spirit
admonishes through everyday life experiences. While He may
use lightning bolts, ear splitting thunder, earthquakes, or
hurricanes; more often than not, the Spirit’s revelations are
demonstrated in less dramatic form. God spoke to Amos
through locusts, fire, a basket of fruit, and a plumb line—
common occurrences. God’s visions can be found in anything—a
flower, a gentle rain, or even a child’s surly temperament.
The Spirit of God is not illusive. He uses whatever means is
necessary to get our attention. He doesn’t hide in the rough
ready to behead us if we go astray. Rather, He stands next to
us, pointing out the error of our swing, and provides us with
corrective measures. “Next time, don’t rush your back swing.
Pray before you tee up, and you’ll fly right over that ditch.”
Published in VISTA
Copyright by Linda Rondeau
For reprint permission
email: lrondeau@westelcom.com
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