by: Jim Schlottman
11/1/2003

On a recent airline flight I read with interest an article about golf in the airline publication, “Hemispheres” by freelance writer Harris Prevost. As a duffer who spends much of his golf time in the woods looking for golf balls, this serious article seemed to provide much needed advice. Its title was, “How To Find Your Golf Ball”.

As I read his suggestion for finding a lost golf ball, I noticed the application to finding other lost items such as lost Vision.

Prevost gave these eight recommendations. See if they apply to the search for your lost vision.

Mark and remember the exact spot you last saw it disappear into the rough.

When trying to find lost vision, it is also advisable to remember the exact spot it disappeared. What event or happening blocked sight of your vision? It may have been criticism, discouragement or failure. Remember the exact critical or discouraging remark that caused your vision to disappear. Exactly what event felt like failure. Go back and remember that God is your purpose and in him all things are possible.

Pause calmly when you come to the place where your ball went out of bounds.

Pause calmly as you remember and take a few moments, hours, or days to look everywhere you can to find your vision again. Prevost suggests that most golfers just wade into the bush head down. They have so serious a case of tunnel vision that they wouldn’t see the ball if it were sitting in plain view. Sound familiar? Is that how you are in looking for your renewed vision – with your head down?

Develop a pattern in your search.

Write down on paper a grid and begin filling the squares with ideas that may be part of your vision. Then methodically research each idea for ways that could help you rebuild your vision.

You need to rely not on “hunting” techniques, but on “finding” techniques.

We can get lost in hunting for just the right idea to complete our vision when what we really need is to know it is there and find it. Henry T. Blackaby, in Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing His Will, says that we are to look where the Lord is working and go there. God already has your vision. You just have to find out what he already has in mind.

Visualize seeing a ball in every bush, under every leaf.

Visualize seeing your vision completed. When we move from the end to the beginning, we can more easily see the vision that will get us there. I don’t want to question God’s design, but I think everyone should come equipped with rear view mirrors. We can sometimes see the future better if we know where we have been. Take a moment to think about how you would row a boat. Which way are you looking? How do you determine if you are going in a straight line? You focus on where you’ve been.

Don’t peek into bushes from the fairway. Go behind the bushes and look toward the fairway. You can see much better from darkness into light than from light into darkness.

That last sentence contains a great amount of wisdom. I’ve found that I only grow spiritual during the difficult times. When I’m in darkness.

Look from place to place. Keep your eyes moving.

What great advice. Always be looking for where God is doing his work.

Finally, if you hit your ball into a creek, get down as close to the creek as yo