How Will You Handle It

The other day, Daddy and Anton went golfing. Golfing is not Anton's favorite sport, but he wanted to be with Daddy, so the two of them headed to the Robert Trent Jones Senator course to take advantage of the $22 green fees on the 22nd of the month (celebrating the 22nd anniversary of the course. Your daddy loves all those 22s). Anton was having one of the best rounds of his life. He was actually within four strokes of your Daddy. Daddy said he was playing beautifully. Then it happened ... it began to rain. The grips were wet. His hands were cold. And Anton's score began to go up. It brought thoughts of the bishop on Caddyshack lifting his club in a torrential downpour and saying, "The Good Lord would never disrupt the best game of my life." Your Daddy saw this as a great teachable moment for your brother. He said to him, "Everything could be going along just great in your life and suddenly something unexpected happens to change everything. So how are you going to handle it?"

If you have an unexpected situation that happens in life, you may need to change your approach. A job loss, financial strains, illness ... the plan changes. How you handle that change could effect the end result of that path. It is not all about attitude, but it certainly makes a difference. We are not saying you have to be Pollyanna and handle everything with joy. But we do recommend an attitude of hope. We do recommend patience. We recommend stepping back, reaccessing and pressing through in grace. A friend with a deadly cancer looking for opportunities to testify about God's blessings in the journey. Another friend whose mother died unexpectedly proclaiming that everything is in God's perfect timing. My son frustrated at not getting an NFL internship he wanted, realizing God may have needed him somewhere else, then ending up working with youth at the Y for the summer and becoming a mentor for a boy who had lost his father just months before. Job, who at the loss of his children, job and health, replied to a wife that told him to "Curse God and die," instead replying, "The gives and The Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of The Lord."

You are going to have curve balls thrown at you in life. Trying to look at them from God's perspective - or at least stepping back to let Him have control - is a wise approach. We pray as these circumstances affect your life, that you will be an example of grace and integrity, leaving behind you a testimony of glory to God.

Discussion: Tell of an unexpected circumstance that happened in your life and how you handled it. Could you have handled it better? Was God glorified it it?

Prayer: Father, we pray you will help us when we face difficult circumstances in our lives. Give us clarity and help us press on in grace. We love you, Father. In Jesus, Amen.