Hitting the Sweet Spot in Recovery ~ blog

If you have ever played golf, baseball, or cricket there is a place on the club or bat called the Sweet Spot.  And when you connect with whatever ball you are hoping to send in the right direction, straight and true, it feels like magic and everything just goes just like it is supposed to.  This is what every golfer loves to experience but rarely does.

Once I was playing golf with a friend of mine and my tee shot stopped just before it went into the lake.  So, the other player stopped the cart, let me out, and drove off leaving me without my clubs.  Another guy we were playing with came over to me and I asked if I could use one of his clubs to hit my shot which was about 140 yards to the green over the lake.  He had some old Ping Eye 2’s so I took out his 9 iron to take my shot.

I figured the odds of me getting the ball over the lake and onto the green were slim to none, but I took my practice swing and addressed the ball.  After saying “Hello Ball!” I hit my shot and it was right on the sweet spot.  It flew high and straight, going over the lake, bounced once, and dropped directly into the hole.  Then I asked the guy how much he wanted for me to buy his club.

I had just hit the best golf shot of my entire life with a club I had never tried before and for a moment I thought; “Man, I love this game.”  However, after the round, I realized, that in addition to the one perfect shot, I had another 108 not so perfect shots.

How does one hit the sweet spot in the Christian Life?  How does one day become a day that is pure and holy and free from sexual lust?  Is it even possible for that to happen?  I think we need to look at getting through our day like playing a round of golf.  Sure, you would like to shoot par and have a handicap of zero but what are the chances of that happening?

Instead, you get to the first tee and drive your ball deep into the woods thinking of a number of names you have for yourself along with a salty curse word or phrase. You do not sit down on the tee box and cry over what a terrible golfer you are.  You go into the woods and look for your ball.  If you don’t find your ball you do not give up, leave the course, and go home.  No, you get another ball, take a drop, add the penalty stroke for a lost ball, and go on.

You stay in the game hoping to hit that sweet spot again and you are proving to yourself that you are not a quitter. You have unbelievable optimism thinking that the next shot will hit the sweet spot even though you would only get par on any hole by the grace of God.

I want you to think about this sweet spot mindset relative to living out your day.  There are 18 holes on a golf course, and we have about 18 hours in our day.  How cool would it be if whenever you went to play a round of golf Tiger Woods was there to give you a pep talk, some instruction, and then offered to be your caddy???

Well, don’t hold your breath because that will never happen.  No, we have something far better and greater than that.  Not even Tiger Woods is perfect…but the Holy Spirit is.  And He is with you the moment you wake up, in you all through the 18 holes you have to play each day and even sitting in you in the clubhouse when you sit down at the end of the match and evaluate what do you need to do to better your game.

What if instead of dreading your day, the work you have to do, the temptations you will have to face and the tremendous stress life will be throwing at you, instead of living in fear and shame of your sexual brokenness you look at each day as a new day to be filled with and walk in the Spirit. Each hour becomes a new hole to play and after each hour you are thanking God for His presence with you and the power of the Spirit guiding you.

You might begin to think ahead.  You might look at the scorecard or sign on the tee box to see the layout of the next hole you have to play.  You begin to see each hour as an opportunity for you to do better on the next shot.  You see the water hazards you will need to avoid and choose the right club so that you are staying in the fairway and not going off into the ruff where trouble aplenty is waiting for you.

There may be poison ivy that will give you a rash to carry home as an STD one might get from a den of iniquity.  Or snakes in the underbrush waiting to bite you and inject more venom into your bloodstream. Or outstretching beyond your grasp for what looks like a brand-new ball someone lost and you slip and fall into the lake.

What are you going to do?  Quit?  Give up?  Throw your entire bag of clubs into the water and storm off to soothe yourself with some beers with the boys in the clubhouse?  Of course not. You schedule another round for another day where your quest for the sweet spot continues.

In our walk of recovery from our sexual brokenness, every day is a new day to practice what we have learned from our previous falls and make necessary adjustments to our game.  Sometimes on the practice green and a bucket of balls on the driving range before starting your day seems like a good idea.  Meeting Tiger during your practice and listening to his suggestions.  And then asking the spirit of Tiger to fill you and be in you as you play out the next 18 hours.

That is the opportunity we all have and of which we all must take advantage. The Holy Spirit of God Almighty lives inside of your body and He loves being invited to join you each and every day.  He loves to fill you and empower you to walk in the Spirit, so you do not fulfill the desires of the flesh.

Two suggestions for you today. See today…and every day going forward as a fresh start…as an opportunity to make the right choices instead of choosing to sin. See every temptation today as a chance to say no to sin…punch it in the face…do a 180 and keep walking in the Spirit.

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