Finishing the eighteenth basket at a disc golf tournament, I had played excellently. It was the best I had ever played at that course. Drives were solid, upshots were excellent, and putts were good. I even hit a putt from around forty feet. Since I would be playing the same course the next day, my confidence level was as high as the haunches on a Himalayan hare.
The next day I bombed. Badly. I badly bombed. I bombed badly. In other words, I stunk. Stinkily.
My confidence had become arrogance. I didn’t bother warming up for the second day’s round. Why bother? When you’re good, you’re good. Arrogance had me believing there were no boll weevils in my cotton.
What would have been a better game plan? First, not getting caught up in yesterday’s successes. I wish I had remembered Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
But a putt missed is a putt missed. You don’t get a do-over. So what to do now? I’m reminded of King Hezekiah in 2 Kings 19. In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, the enemy king of Assyria pledged destruction of Judah. Hezekiah could have reacted this way: “Who does that Assyrian toddler think he is? I’ll grind him up like the disc golfing wanna-be that he is.” Not that Hezekiah played disc golf. I’m just using that as an expressive metaphor.
Instead, Hezekiah reacted with great humility. He tore his clothes, a symbol of both grief and humility. He then went to the temple to meet with his God through prayer and worship.
A monumental event loomed before him. In the face of it, he turned to the Lord God. Certainly, he asked for God’s help to stave off the issue. We are commanded in Philippians 4:6 to bring every concern to God.
Once Hezekiah prays and worships, he still has no idea how God will answer. But he has done all he needed to do. With humility, he acknowledges he has no answer. He goes to God and makes his appeal. Finally, he faithfully waits for God’s answer, regardless what His answer may be.
Not long after that, the prophet Isaiah sends him the answer. God will save the country of Judah. Hezekiah’s humility and unshakeable faithfulness has reached God’s heart.
Can you reach your Father’s heart? Emphatically, yes.
One of the best examples is found in one verse (Matthew 26:39) during Jesus’ time in the Garden of Gethsemane. In humility and grief, he falls with his face to the ground.
With his face to the ground, Jesus utters this prayer: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.” We should always remember we can take any request to Him.
Then Jesus ends His prayer with these words: “Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Grief, humility, and faithfulness expressed in twenty-two words. He does this two more times. Obviously, since He is God, Jesus knows how it will end for Him. The fate He faces carries incredible pain and grief, yet He surrenders Himself to it because of His faith in the Father.
My disc golf arrogance wasn’t anything I’d place in the suffering category. I was basically a stuck duck in a dry pond. The engine was running, but no one was driving. Entirely my fault, and in the bigger picture of life, I would live to enjoy more chocolate chip cookies.
However, we all have found ourselves in excruciating circumstances, causing us to fall upon our faces out of desperation. Always before, we’ve won every battle, and we believe we can overcome this current catastrophe through the strength of our massive biceps.
Eventually, we realize we are powerless in this one battle. We cry out to God with our desire for the remedy we’re tempted to demand.
We’re now at the moment when humility and faithfulness must transform our hearts. We must dwell in the peace God promises in Philippians 4:7: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
May we then utter, “Thank you, Father.”