What Disc Golf and Life Have in Common

I did something recently I’ve never done before—I played disc golf.

Disc golf is my husband’s new favorite sport. It gets him off the couch into the sunshine and air and provides a fun way to exercise. It also helps him build relationships with other men through friendly competition.

The game of disc golf is similar to traditional golf, only instead of using a ball and clubs, you play with a disc that looks like a sophisticated Frisbee. Instead of hitting a ball into a hole in the ground, you fling a disc into a basket made of chains. The trick is that these baskets are 300-400 feet apart, scattered throughout the woods, with lots of obstacles to throw around.

My husband and I were on a weekend getaway in the mountains (far from his regular disc golf course AND his regular golfing buddies) when he discovered a nearby disc golf course. Not surprisingly, he wanted to check it out.

“Would you like to play with me?” he asked, turning hopeful, beseeching eyes upon me.

“OK,” I said hesitantly, remembering a lesson in our latest marriage Bible study that said couples with healthy marriages try new things together.

So off we went.

A well-designed disc golf course has tees that are clearly marked with signs that tell you where the basket is, how far away, and what par it is. This course, a simple one at an elementary school, had “natural” tees. They must have been VERY natural, because they blended in so well with all the nature around us that we never saw most of them.

Instead of having a clear starting point, we had to guess. Instead of knowing how long the drive was, we had to guess at that too. Sometimes, we weren’t even sure where the basket was. We had to scour the property until we stumbled upon a basket with the correct number on it. Scoring was impossible, because without knowing what par was, we didn’t know if we’d hit the basket in fewer strokes than most, more than others, or if we were average.

Thankfully, since I was a rookie and not very good at throwing the discs or hitting the baskets, I wasn’t troubled that there was no measurable standard against which I could log my performance. My husband, however, is a serious player who wanted to know for sure how he measured up. He found the course very frustrating.

The next day we tried another course. This one was well marked with bright blue tees. At every hole there was a sign that told us how long the shot was, what was the par, and where the basket was. To make things even simpler, the rec center provided a detailed map showing where all 18 holes and their tees were.

It was a delightful experience. My husband and I knew what was expected of us, what the course rules were, and how to successfully play the game.

It occurred to me that many people play with their eternal destiny much like my husband and I played that first disc golf course.

They wander through life with no clear direction. They measure their performance by their own standards, or perhaps compare themselves with someone who’s worse than they. They guess at what might please God and occasionally stumble on something that seems right. If they’re honest with themselves, they admit that they are frustrated and uncertain.

And when we’re talking about where we’ll spend eternity, no one should be frustrated and uncertain. 

I'm glad God tells us in his Word, “These things have I written . . . that you may know that you have eternal life . . .” (1 John 5:13). We don’t have to guess. Like the second course on which we played,

God provides a map to help us navigate life. It’s called the Bible.

He’s provided a way for us to spend eternity in heaven. It’s called salvation.

And he’s provided the power to live the best life possible here on earth. It’s called the Holy Spirit.

If you feel like you’re wandering through life unsuccessfully chasing a standard you can never attain, I can relate. And if you’re wondering where you’ll spend eternity after you die, I’d love to share what someone shared with me many years ago. It changed my life, and it can change your life, too. Please CLICK HERE to go to the page, How to Know God.

Or CLICK HERE to listen to my story on YouTube.

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Occasionally a disc gets stuck in a tree. Guess who has to get it out?