I was doing all right. Pretty solid on the irons and hybrids, and, for the most part, consistent with my 5 fairway metal. But my driver . . . somewhere I had lost the plot, and it was going every which way but down the fairway. So I decided to take a lesson.
The lesson focused on my grip and my swing—for all my clubs. The instructions all made sense: a wider stance, a tiny grip adjustment, a check of my alignment. All the changes were to make me more consistent, have a greater swing speed, and get more distance.
It was new, and when I did it right, it was exciting. I was ready to hit the course . . . or so I thought.
Suddenly, without the watchful eye of my instructor, and the level lie of the driving range mat, it wasn’t so easy, and before I knew it, my game fell apart.
I was now officially a basket case. I would stand over the ball and freeze, not knowing what I was supposed to do. I hit the highest score I had ever hit since I started golf, and after each errant shot, I thought about how I could use all the money I was spending on golf if I gave up the game right then. I was worse than when I started — or so I thought.
As Christians our lives often follow this same path. We read and learn and then try to apply it to our Christian walk, but often we don’t succeed very well, and, consequently, feel defeated. What felt easy reading about on the couch is much harder to put into practice out in the world.
Sometimes it just seems easier to go back to our old habits, but that doesn’t quite work either, does it? Because now we know what we should be doing and neither the old nor the new feels comfortable.
Paul felt this very dissonance: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (Romans 7:15).
It turns out I wasn’t worse. The more I went back to my instructor for reminders, and the more I practiced, the more natural the swing began to feel and the more I saw positive results.
So, too, with our Christian walk. But the big difference is that our spiritual coach is with us ALWAYS. He is right inside us, providing us with the encouragement, the reminders, and, most importantly, the power to continue and to succeed.
The lesson focused on my grip and my swing—for all my clubs. The instructions all made sense: a wider stance, a tiny grip adjustment, a check of my alignment. All the changes were to make me more consistent, have a greater swing speed, and get more distance.
It was new, and when I did it right, it was exciting. I was ready to hit the course . . . or so I thought.
Suddenly, without the watchful eye of my instructor, and the level lie of the driving range mat, it wasn’t so easy, and before I knew it, my game fell apart.
I was now officially a basket case. I would stand over the ball and freeze, not knowing what I was supposed to do. I hit the highest score I had ever hit since I started golf, and after each errant shot, I thought about how I could use all the money I was spending on golf if I gave up the game right then. I was worse than when I started — or so I thought.
As Christians our lives often follow this same path. We read and learn and then try to apply it to our Christian walk, but often we don’t succeed very well, and, consequently, feel defeated. What felt easy reading about on the couch is much harder to put into practice out in the world.
Sometimes it just seems easier to go back to our old habits, but that doesn’t quite work either, does it? Because now we know what we should be doing and neither the old nor the new feels comfortable.
Paul felt this very dissonance: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (Romans 7:15).
It turns out I wasn’t worse. The more I went back to my instructor for reminders, and the more I practiced, the more natural the swing began to feel and the more I saw positive results.
So, too, with our Christian walk. But the big difference is that our spiritual coach is with us ALWAYS. He is right inside us, providing us with the encouragement, the reminders, and, most importantly, the power to continue and to succeed.
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