The Trees, The Shot, and The Lesson

Faith From the Fairway – Sunday Edition

I thought it was going to be a good round.

You ever step up to the first tee feeling loose, confident… maybe even a little dangerous?

That was me.

The first few holes were smooth.
Clean releases.
Discs flying the way they’re supposed to.

Then hole four showed up.

Tree.

Another tree.

Then another tree.

At one point I started thinking the forest had something against me. My disc wasn’t finding the fairway… it was finding every branch around it.

If you’ve played disc golf, you know that feeling.

You see the gap.
You believe in the line.
You throw the shot.

And somehow the tree still wins.

Standing there after one of those kicks, I started thinking about how much this game can teach us.

Because disc golf has a funny way of humbling you.

You can plan the perfect line.
You can step up with confidence.
You can believe you’ve got it all figured out.

And then the disc catches a tree you didn’t even notice.

Life can feel like that sometimes too.

Life is not a game with a scorecard. We continuously learn how to walk the right path.

We make plans.
We aim for the gap.
We believe we’re headed straight down the fairway.

But sometimes we still hit a tree.

The difference is what happens next.

In disc golf, you don’t stand there forever staring at the tree you just hit.

You pick up your disc.
You look for the next opening.
And you throw again.

Faith works the same way.

God doesn’t expect us to walk perfectly. He teaches us while we walk.

The Bible says in Proverbs 16:9 (KJV)

“A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.”

We choose the line.

But God sees the whole course.

Sometimes the tree we hit slows us down just enough to notice a better path we missed before.

And honestly, some of the most creative shots in disc golf happen from the woods.

Low ceiling.
Strange stance.
One tiny gap to work with.

But when you trust the throw…

the disc can still find the chains.

So if you’re feeling like life has knocked you into the trees lately, remember this:

The lesson isn’t in the perfect drive.

The lesson is in learning how to throw the next shot.

And with God guiding your steps…

there’s always another way Ahead.

See you on the fairway.

— The Disc Golf Bug