Just Like Jesus by Max Lucado

Author:Max Lucado
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Christian
Published: 2011-09-30T10:54:58+00:00

chapter seven

Golf Games and Celery Sticks

A Focused Heart

The golf game was tied with four holes to go. As we stood on the tee box, I spotted the next green. “Sure seems like a long way off,” I commented. No one spoke. “Sure is a narrow fairway,” I said as I teed up my ball. Again, no response. “How do they expect us to hit over those trees?” Still no answer.

The silence didn’t disturb me. Years of ruthless competition against fellow ministers on municipal courses has taught me to be wary of their tricks. I knew exactly what they were doing. Intimidated by my impressive streak of bogeys, they resolved to psych me out (after all, we were playing for a soda). So I stepped up to the ball and took a swing.

There is no other way to describe what happened next— I hit a great drive. A high arching fade over the crop of trees to my left. I could hear the other guys groan. I assumed they were jealous. After watching their drives, I knew they were. None of them even made it close to the trees. Rather than hit left, they each hit right and ended up miles from the green. That’s when I should have suspected something, but I didn’t.

They walked down their side of the fairway, and I walked down mine. But rather than find my ball sitting up on thick fairway grass, I discovered it hidden in weeds and rocks and surrounded by trees. “This is a tough hole,” I muttered to myself. Nevertheless, I was up for the challenge. I studied the shot and selected a strategy, took out a club, and—forgive me but I must say it again— I hit a great shot. You would have thought my ball was radar controlled: narrowly missing one branch, sweeping around another, heading toward the green like a jackrabbit dashing for supper. Only the steep hill kept it from rolling onto the putting surface.

I’d learned from televised tournaments how to act in such moments. I froze my follow-through just long enough for the photographers to take their pictures, then I gave my club a twirl. With one hand I waved to the crowd, with the other I handed my club to my caddie. Of course, in my case there was no photographer or caddie, and there was no crowd. Not even my buddies were watching. They were all on the other side of the fairway, looking in the other direction. A bit miffed that my skill had gone unnoticed, I shouldered my clubs and started walking to the green.

Again, it should have occurred to me that something was wrong. The tally of curious events should’ve gotten my attention. No one commenting on the difficulty of the hole.

No one complimenting my drive. Everyone else hitting to the right while I hit to the left.

A perfect drive landing in the rough. My splendid approach shot, unseen. It should have occurred to me, but it didn’t. Only as I neared the green did anything seem unusual.

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