“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).
All Things to All Men
By Linda Rondeau
“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 men’s tee overlooks a deep ditch. My
husband set up his ball, hoping he’d have sufficient trajectory to
carry the ditch and still be far enough left to avoid the slope
into the woods.
Unfortunately, he misjudged his backswing. The ball caught the
top lip and rolled into the ditch. We thought it hopelessly lost.
We hated to give up, though. It was brand new. On the outside
chance we could find a replacement, we circled the perimeter of
the monster hole. I thought I saw his ball about three feet down
from the top.
“An easy retrieval,” my husband said. I on the other hand
doubted his abilities when I saw the steep slant. Spiderman, he
is not. When he bent to pick up the ball, he fell head over heels
into the bottom of the pit.
He jumped up almost immediately. “I’m good.”
Thankfully, no physical harm had been done.
“But I lost the cell phone. Must have fallen off my belt when I
rolled.”
“Great. We try to salvage a three-dollar ball and lose a
hundred dollar cell phone.”
“No problem,” he said. “I know the people who live in that
house by the green.” He climbed back up to the top without
incident. “I’ll call the cell from their house. And you can locate
it that way.” Good plan, except when it comes to sound, I’m
directionally challenged. I heard the ring, slid down to where I
thought the phone might be and found myself knee deep in
weeds and brambles. I couldn’t find the Green Giant in this
tangled mess let alone a black phone on the ground.
Then I felt a lump underneath my foot, and picked up the cell
phone—miraculously undamaged. Soon after, we resumed play,
careful to avoid searching for lost balls in deep ravines.
Sometimes believers need to cross trenches where there are no
bridges. Failure seems self-evident, but we refuse to call play
just because a thunderstorm. We play through anyway, and the
results are pitiful. Fortunately, God does not leave us in the
belly of the ditch to stumble across our solutions. He has
provided us with a Counselor, ready and willing to direct our
course, regardless of our awareness.
There are times when we aim for a blind green across those
gullies. But, from the mundane to the marvelous, from the
routine to the radical, from the disappointing to the delirious,
the Holy Spirit is our ball finder. He is not illusive, hiding in the
rough. 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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