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Tomorrow is coming. That phrase can be filled with hope or it can be filled with dread. What tomorrow holds can be something wonderful or it can be something horrible. Tomorrow can be a day of great joy or it can be a day of great sorrow. During this time of the year, tomorrow is a time to scratch an itch. Here in the Bluegrass the weather is trying to "fair up" and that usually means one thing; GOLF!!! Yep, you're seeing that right. All the games of Zilch, Hands and Feet and, yes, even Texas Hold'em are not quite as satisfying as being on the fairway (hopefully) hitting a shot to the green on the first hole.

Golf has that finite attraction of, no matter how good or bad you are, the ball goes in the cup...eventually. You can be laser sharp or you can be fighting the shanks. You can be "catching it on the screws" or you can be "hitting it fat." Makes no difference. Once you get to the green you can only leave it after you have put the ball in the cup or had a putt conceded. It's not like football where a goal line stand or a timely interception can deny you a score. It's not like baseball where a spectacular glove play or a called third strike can stop a runner from crossing the plate. It is blatantly against the rules to deny a putt. Got that? The rules.

That's what makes golf different from all the other sports. According to the rules you must score. You are not bound to one amount for your score as in football where a touchdown is always six points regardless. You are not required to take a certain score as in baseball where a grand slam, excellence personified, is four runs no matter if it just clears the fence or completely leaves the stadium. Depending on your level of proficiency for any given day, your score can either be under par or over par. You can either walk off the eighteenth green feeling exultant or you can walk off thinking, "Man, that was brutal." Such is the nature of golf.

Somewhere, in all the strokes of that round you just completed, tucked away in your memory, is that one stroke that felt the way it was supposed to feel. If you could just replicate that stroke every time. Life is a little less forgiving. Oh, to be sure, there will be the typical assortment of the equivalent of whiffs, shanks. thin shots, slices and hooks. But somewhere in all that living is that time when you felt like God was truly with you and you were effective for Him. You weren't just flayling away at life, you were truly living it. Just as golf is all about the strokes and putting the ball in the cup, life is all about the living putting the emphasis on God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

"For I know that this will turn out for my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philippians 1:19-21 When you're doing your best, it's not necessarily so much about the score as it is about the dedication to the effort. You may not be the person who people point to as the greatest example of Jesus, but you're on the course and you ARE putting the ball in the cup. Remember, it's not about you, it's about Christ.

"Refreshment in Refuge" from Gina Burgess

If/Then: Working with God