Their Times and Mine

   David, the writer of the Psalm 31, is bemoaning the fact that his enemies are all around him and just waiting for his downfall. They set traps for him and look with glee on any bad thing that happens in his life.

   Yet in all of this he states:

   "My times are in your hand;"

   What is true of this man of God is also true of each one of us. God knows our times. He knows all about us, from the womb to the grave, and beyond. He knew it even before we were born.

   I plan to do things today, and then for some reason they get changed. He knows, and I just need to accept those changes and move ahead on that new path.

   For the past couple of days I have been working at the McGladrey Classic, our local PGA golf tournament. Yesterday I walked along with a threesome of pro golfers on their first round of this event. They are young, strong and can hit that ball a long way, a long way indeed. They are in their prime, and have the world by the tail. I'm sure that each one has dreams of being the next Ben Hogan or Arnold Palmer, or another of their golf heroes. They practice long hours, they play in many tournaments, and they sacrifice to meet their goals. I had only heard of one of the three before meeting them yesterday morning on the first tee box. (in order below: Tim Herron, James Driscoll and Matt Every)

   The only things that I know about these three are that they are good golfers, they are pretty nice guys, to each other and the people around them, and they are dead serious about the game that they play. I do not know their hearts and their dreams, their struggles and their victories, both on and off the course.

   But I do know that their times are in His hands also, whether they acknowledge that fact or not, just as mine are. They may have more time in their futures, but that does not change the facts any. Everyone is known by God, each one of us, and we can either go through life living like our times are our own, and we can make our own way, or we can be like David, and say, I know that You God, and You alone have control over my life.

   "Thy will be done"

(As an aside this morning: God answered my plea from yesterday by helping me not to mess up the entire PGA world with inaccurate scoring on my handheld device and giving me the stamina to go the entire 18 holes with no problems. I am grateful to Him for all of that, and I had a great day doing it.)