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A while back, I wrote a post inspired by the iconic Bob Ross. Using the popular PBS host’s enthusiastic encouragement as an illustration, the article was a reminder to be intentional with the picture you paint (aka, the life you live) each day.
But that’s not always easy.
Sometimes the blank canvas of our day provokes in us an opportunistic, Bob Ross kind of response. We great the clean slate with enthusiasm and joy, aware of all the possibilities it offers. We brim with creativity and are alive to all of the possibilities we have to be all that God made us to be.
But sometimes it’s intimidating.
When the empty canvas or blank screen of a day appears to be more obstacle than opportunity, I think of another Bob Ros(s) who made his way into our home through the airways on Saturday. This Bob, Bob Rosburg, came by way of ABC Sports.
Once he retired from the PGA Tour in the mid 1970’s, Rosburg was hired by ABC Sports to provide color commentary for their golf broadcasts. Contrary to Bob Ross’s contagious optimism (“We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”), Rosburg became famous for declaring impossibilities.
When describing the options a golfer had after a terrible shot, Rosburg would confide to his long-time colleague, Jim McKay, “Jim, he’s got nothing here.” His negative appraisals of a golfer’s options led NBC commentator Johnny Miller to refer to difficult lies as “Rosburgs.”
How do you respond to the “Rosburgs” of your life, when you to feel like you’ve “got nothing here”? While most of us don’t hit a white ball for a living, we do find that our lives, on occasion, seem plugged in a sand trap, stuck behind a tree, or buried in deep rough.
Sometimes the “got nothing here” is literal. No appointments, no projects, no contracts, no leads, no traction.
Sometimes the “got nothing here” is functional. The “Rosburgs” of our day may be as simple as spotty wifi or as frustrating as a broken hot water heater.
So how do you respond?
I think some of us come wired from the factory to see intrusions, hiccups, and difficulty as “happy little accidents” while others view even the most benign of inconveniences as “Rosburgs.”
But what if there was a third option? What if you could view the dilemmas of life through the lens something other than denial or despondency? What if you could see them in light of a bigger picture?
Words like faith, hope, trust, and assurance are voiced regularly by those of us who follow Jesus. What we often fail to realize, however, is that they are forged in the struggles of every day. God uses these events of life in the process of sanctification. If we pay attention, “happy little accidents” and “Rosburgs” can serve as indicators of what we long for, and where our functional hope lies.
In his first epistle, John the Apostle warns of three universal temptations: the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life (1 John 2:16). The process of chasing after these and the illusory notion that true joy and contentment can be found in them is at the root of most of my Rosburg experiences. More times than not, when I’m frustrated, worried, disappointed, or discouraged, it’s because I’ve allowed the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and/or the pride of life to rule my heart.
Instead of seeing difficulties through the lens of denial or despondency, discipline yourself to check in with your motivation. Why is this event frustrating? Why is the outcome bothersome? Why has the feeling faded?
It may be because you, too, have placed your hope in a temporal distraction.
If so, take your drop, realign your sights, and play on.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5: 1 – 8 (NASB) emphasis added
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