{"id":24029,"date":"2018-10-26T03:30:26","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T10:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=24029"},"modified":"2018-10-23T16:52:49","modified_gmt":"2018-10-23T23:52:49","slug":"october-26-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2018\/10\/26\/october-26-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"October 26, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cWe toss the coin, but God decides the outcome.\u201d <\/i>Proverbs 16:33<\/i><\/p>\n

Monkey Business<\/b><\/h2>\n

A man from Mississippi on a mission trip was golfing in Africa. He noticed signs posted along the course. \u201cPlay the ball where the monkey throws it.\u201d He asked his friend what that meant. His friend told him the golf course had wild monkeys living in that area. The monkeys were fascinated by the little white ball that would come flying through the air and land near them. They would take the ball and throw it. Course managers tried to keep them off by using fences and loud noisemakers but to no avail. The monkeys would see the little white balls, run down on the golf course, and throw the ball. When the golfers got to where they thought the ball had landed, the ball had been moved. This greatly frustrated and angered the golfers.<\/p>\n

The managers of the golf course finally conceded that they had built the course in the monkeys\u2019 domain so they changed the rules to accommodate the monkey population. Thus the signs: \u201cPlay the ball where the monkey throws it.\u201d The players stepped up to the challenge and began to play with the understanding that they would have to hit their ball from where the monkey threw it.<\/p>\n

Life sometimes throws a \u201cmonkey wrench\u201d into our plans. We have our expectations, we make our plans, but our life did not end up where we intended. Something or someone changed the course of our plan. Proverbs 16:33 tells us, \u201cWe toss the coin, but God decides the outcome.\u201d\u00a0<\/i>Amazing things can take place when God changes the course of our lives. We can become frustrated and angry about it, or we can accept all as from the hand of God, and live in peace knowing our loving God loves us and holds us in His faithful hand of grace.<\/p>\n

So whether it is a golf ball or a coin, it is our heavenly Father that decides where that ball goes or if the coin lands heads or tails. Let\u2019s trust His will for us, even when we do not agree or understand, and acknowledge Him in every way, so that He will direct our paths (paraphrase of Proverbs 3:5-6). Perhaps He is letting that \u201cmonkey\u201d interfere with our plans so that He can use us \u201cfor such a time as this.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cLord, help us to keep our sense of humor when things don\u2019t go our way. Remind us with a picture in our minds that it is You tossing our golf ball into a new area of Your will, not ours, and as we toss the coin, it is You deciding the outcome.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>

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