Frustration-Where the Monkey Drops It

"And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans." (Romans 8:28, The Living Bible)
At the Calcutta Country Club and Golf Course in Calcutta, India, ground rule number ten on the golf course is simply, “Play the ball where the monkey drops it.” This ground rule may also provide special insight for families.

India itself is a country of contrasts. Though surrounded by slums of abject poverty, the Calcutta Country club is one of the most posh and refined golf facilities in the world, reserved for the privileged few of wealth and influence. This beautifully laid-out and maintained course is cut directly out of a magnolia jungle. Thus, the course is surrounded by thick groves of huge, lush magnolias. These magnolias are also home to large monkey populations. In the trees, the monkeys find not only shelter from the sweltering Indian sun but also a superb view of the fairways.

For reasons yet undiscovered, these same monkeys have developed a special affinity for golf balls, especially as the balls bounce and roll down the fairways. As you might imagine, this affinity poses quite a problem for golfers. At the Calcutta Country Club, they have developed a unique solution to a unique problem.

As the golfer connects with the golf ball, a rustling can be heard among the magnolia trees. The ever vigilant monkeys spring from the trees in pursuit of the bouncing projectile. At that time, the caddie, madly waving a golf club, races down the fairway toward the ball. Usually these tactics succeed in preventing the monkey from capturing the ball. On occasion, however, it is the monkey who is successful. As the monkey grasps the ball and flees, the caddie intensifies his efforts at intimidation. Invariably, at the approach of the human the monkey will drop the golf ball. And there’s the rub. The monkey may or may not drop the ball in the fairway, in a good lie, or even within the boundary. The golfer is not allowed the prerogoative of returning the ball to its original spot, regardless of whether its position has worsened or improved. Thus we are left with the Calcutta Country Club rule number ten: Play the ball where the monkey drops it!

In families, especially in (blended) families, we often discover that the courts or prior relationships have left us with “unfavorable lies.” At the discovery, we are left with the choice: either we expend our lives trying to change the unchangeable and bemoaning our lot or we can deal with the reality. The first option leads only to frustration; the second opens our lives to divine intervention that can make something meaningful and worthwhile out of that which has been broken. (Hughes, R. Kent, 1001 Great Stories “Quotes”, (Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton IL pp. 173-174).

The Necessity of Christ

“Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart.  May the foot of the proud not come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.  See how the evildoers lie fallen— thrown down, not able to rise!” (Psalm 36:10-12 NIV).

Yesterday we talked about God’s love. Notice verse 10, “Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart.” Somewhere in our sinfulness we have gotten the mistaken idea that the truth, “God is love,” (1 John 4:16 NIV) automatically excuses us from any consequence of sin. Nothing could be further from the truth! Our text reminds us that God’s love is experienced by “those who know (Him)” and His righteousness is reserved for “the upright in heart.” Our text goes on to remind us that there is coming a day when all who are unrighteous one day will “lie fallen— thrown down, not able to rise!”

If God is only love everyone gets to go to heaven–no matter how they lived or what they did. Before you rejoice at that thought, this means, Adolph Hitler, the mass murder of some 15 million people, Joseph Stalin who murdered some 30-60 million Russians, Chairman Mao Tse Tung who murdered 30 million Chinese, Saddam Hussain’s sons who brutally tortured and murdered thousands of innocent people, Nero, the terrorists who brought down the world trade center . . . all of these are enjoying the benefits of heaven today if God is only love. Ah, now the problem becomes a little more clear.

The same Bible that teaches God is love also teaches that He is just. The Bible says, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,  maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7 NIV– emphasis mine). And the Bible says, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27 NKJV). Now if God is just, certainly those listed in the paragraph above are not in heaven. But, before you rejoice, understand this: if God were only just, not only are the men mentioned above where they belong, but if God is only just, no one gets to go to heaven. “There is no one righteous, not even one . . . For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:10 & 23 NIV). This is why we need Christ. In Christ the justice of God is satisfied so that the love of God may be extended. You cannot experience the personal love of God apart from Christ. If you want to stand, you must stand in Him. If you want to stand you must first kneel at the foot of the cross.

God's Unfathonable Love

“Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.  Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O Lord, you preserve both man and beast.  How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.  They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.  For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.” (Ps 36:5-9 NIV).

What a glorious way to start the day! The song writer penned (on a dungeon wall I might add), “The love of God is greater far then tongue or pen can ever tell, it goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell . . . Could we with ink the oceans fill and were the skies of parchment made, were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love of God above would drain the oceans dry, nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky.”

Paul wrote, “And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love;  and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself.” (Ephesians 3:17-19 TLB emphasis mine).

May you feel that love today. That incomprehensible, indescribable love. That love that caused the Father to send the Son to a world He knew did not want Him, to a world He knew would abuse Him to a world He knew would kill Him. It is that love that caused the self-sufficient God (which means He needs absolutely nothing from anyone or anything) to utter the first fiat of creation already having determined what it was going to cost Him! Amazing love!

Do you know that love? Have you personally responded to it? Have you invited Jesus into your own heart as Savior and Lord? If not, I pray that you will do that today. Here is a simple prayer you may pray: “Dear Lord Jesus, I need you. I know that I am a sinner and need forgiveness of my sin. I believe that you died on the cross and rose from the dead to pay the penalty for my sin and purchase a place for me in heaven which you offer as a free gift. I don’t understand it all, but I accept that gift by faith right now. Come into my heart. Help me from this moment on to live under your holy control. Thank you for hearing my prayer. In Jesus Name, Amen.”

Personal Responsibility

“An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin. The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and to do good.  Even on his bed he plots evil; he commits himself to a sinful course and does not reject what is wrong.” (Ps 36:1-4 NIV emphasis mine).

The Message renders these verses, "The God-rebel tunes in to sedition— all ears, eager to sin. He has no regard for God, he stands insolent before him.  He has smooth-talked himself into believing That his evil will never be noticed. Words gutter from his mouth, dishwater dirty. Can’t remember when he did anything decent.  Every time he goes to bed, he fathers another evil plot. When he’s loose on the streets, nobody’s safe. He plays with fire and doesn’t care who gets burned.”

Not a particularly pleasant thought for a daily devotional, but an unfortunately practical one.

David begins this particular Psalm with these words, “An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked . . . .” His mind is contemplating the problem of evil as it relates to men. We’ve all done it. We wonder how certain people can be so spiritually stupid–our text answers that, “For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin. . . he has ceased to be wise.”

One of the sad realities of sin is the deeper it is the less we recognize it. The heart of the problem of those suffering from addition is not ultimately the substance itself but the heart of the addict him or her self. Only Christ can change that. Someone once observed, “You can take the bum out of the slum, but you can’t take the slum out of the bum.” Social change is not enough; we need Christ. The sinner “commits himself to a sinful course and does not reject what is wrong.” It is a choice. We are not simply “products of our environment.” I know people who have had a wonderful home environment and are rotten. On the other hand I also know people who have had a rotten home environment and are wonderful. The difference? Choice. No one has the power to make you what you are; you choose to be what you are. The sad thing is, when sin is factored into that equation, our tendency is to become blind to that particular truth. We cry in our milk, lament our lot in life, commit ourselves to continuing the downward slide and never recognize what is happening! The one who plays with fire may burn other people, but eventually they will get burnt themselves. The fact that hell is described as a place of burning is poetic justice at its best.

Thankfully, God has made a way out for anyone who will respond in faith to Christ. But just as the road to ruin is traveled by committed people, so the road to redemption must be traveled by committed people. It is not a one time decision and I’m off the hook. It is a daily walk. Jesus said, “Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills.” (Matthew 7:21 MSG).

The Tongue: How do you use it?

“My tongue will speak of your righteousness and of your praises all the day long.” (Psalm 35:28 NIV).

The human tongue is an interesting commodity. James says of it, "Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged by God with greater strictness. We all make many mistakes, but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way. We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds are strong. So also, the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness that can ruin your whole life. It can turn the entire course of your life into a blazing flame of destruction, for it is set on fire by hell itself. People can tame all kinds of animals and birds and reptiles and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!" (James 3:1-10 NLT). I like the way The Message puts verses 5-10 of this (James) passage: "A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can’t go on.”

We don’t often think about the tongue and as such we greatly under-estimate it’s power. James is right, “By our speech we can ruin the world . . .” An obscure Austrian painter proved that. Probably no individual personifies the potent power of the tongue toward evil ends then Adolf Hitler. By all historical accounts, there is no way this mad-man should have ever gained the type of power he managed to gain. It was his speeches–the power of the tongue–that captured the German people and led to the holocaust and to a devastating world war. The tongue has power.

The tongue has power for good or for evil. Sadly because of sin, we seem to much more effective at using our tongues to tear down rather then build up. Oh that we could learn with the Psalmist to use our tongues “to speak of (God’s) righteousness and (sing) of His praises all day long.” I wonder what change such a commitment would bring in our churches alone not to speak of the changes that would occur in our world. If God’s people would determine to pray daily “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3 NIV), and then live it, I wonder what changes would be wrought in this land?

When Lies Abound

“O Lord, fight those fighting me; declare war on them for their attacks on me. Put on your armor, take your shield and protect me by standing in front. Lift your spear in my defense, for my pursuers are getting very close. Let me hear you say that you will save me from them. Dishonor those who are trying to kill me. Turn them back and confuse them. Blow them away like chaff in the wind—wind sent by the Angel of the Lord. Make their path dark and slippery before them, with the Angel of the Lord pursuing them. For though I did them no wrong, yet they laid a trap for me and dug a pitfall in my path. Let them be overtaken by sudden ruin, caught in their own net and destroyed.” (Psalm 35:1-8 TLB).

No matter where we are in life, no matter what we do, there will always be critics. I watch our President (no matter which of the 11 I’ve seen thus far) and no matter what course of action he takes, there are always those claiming it was the wrong course of action and a frenzied media to evaluate the situation with their own biased spin on the events.

Years ago I was the director of a camp for troubled young people. I remember giving the rules of the camp to one group of very defiant young women. One particularly stood out. Everything I said was met with a click of the tongue (a sign of disgust), a roll of the eyes and a toss of her head. As I finished the orientation I made a very positive and affirming statement which was met with a very comical beginning click, half rolled eyes and a caught toss of the head. Today you could almost hear Homer Simpson “D’OH!” This critic was caught in the act. If only all were that simple!

All of us know the pain of false pursuit, harmful lies, and personal attacks. The Psalmist continues, “These evil men swear to a lie. They accuse me of things I have never even heard about. I do them good, but they return me harm. I am sinking down to death. When they were ill, I mourned before the Lord in sackcloth, asking him to make them well; I refused to eat; I prayed for them with utmost earnestness, but God did not listen. I went about sadly as though it were my mother, friend, or brother who was sick and nearing death. But now that I am in trouble they are glad; they come together in meetings filled with slander against me—I didn’t even know some of those who were there.” (Psalm 35:11-15 TLB). It’s amazing to watch people come out of the wood-work for a good roast! There isn’t a pastor alive who has not had the experience of ministering care to people only to have them get well and turn viciously on them.

What do we do in times like these? The Psalmist knew. Give the issue over to God. Most commentators believe that David wrote this Psalm during the years he was being hunted by Saul. During this time, David had the opportunity to take matters into his own hands, yet he steadfastly refused. David realized that God does a much better job of setting things right, even if it does not appear to be in the timely manner for which we sometimes wish.
 
I don't know what issues you may be facing today, perhaps a friend or co-worker has suddenly turned against you or perhaps you are stinging from lies and rumors being spread about you.  If you find yourself in such a predicament, you can do one of two things:  you can stress over it and try to make it right, or you can entrust the issue to God and let Him work.  I have learned over the years that when I try to fix certain things, I just end up in the way.  Let go and let God work.