Masters

We had had a wonderful Easter service at church and then lunch with the family and now we were on to the next activity. The Masters. Mel and I sat perched in our familiar chairs, Molly even joined us on the couch, and later Jamie rolled in. It was a lazy afternoon, catnapping and and occasional comments on a drive, or an outfit of one of the golfers, or a reply to a commentators story of one of the players.

Mel made a casual comment that he had heard that Bubba Watson was a Christian, and I perked up and googled him and found out that he was a southern boy from Georgia, and from his bio, that he was a Christian, a husband and a daddy, in that order, so I followed his playing a little more carefully. He and his wife Angie have a newly adopted baby of two weeks, and this too was another sweet piece of information. It has been said for years that if you want girls to become involved in watching sports, you have to tell them something personal, and then, there is a chance, they may get hooked on a player, therefore enticing them to become personally engaged in the sport. This was one of those times.

As the golfers advanced to the back nine, the game became more challenging and interesting and soon we were so enamored and engaged, we didn't miss a stroke. It was the eighteenth hole, and there were clearly only two leaders remaining: Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen. The odds were most probably on Oosthuizen, for he had played cool and consistent golf each round, hardly veering from his given path.

The eighteenth hole presented each of them with putting challenges, and they finished, tied in score. So sudden death it would be: beginning with a repeat of the eighteenth hole. Again they paired scores. So they advanced to the second playoff hole, number 10. Bubba, with a powerful stoke with his hot pink driver, made personally for him, drove it into the woods and the ball landed off the fairway, deep onto a wooded clearing atop trompled pine mulch. Oosthuizen's drive too, was off course and landed him on the outskirts of the fairway. He clearly had the advantage, and we were bummed. Oosthuizen's shot was further out so he had first hit and his ball hit just outside the green. It was then Watson's turn. Now mind you, this guy has never taken golf lessons. He started at the age of six and his dad taught him how to grip the club and he went from there. He is just a natural.

Dressed in white pants and shirt, his wavy dark hair covered partly by a white hat with a hot pink Ping logo, he casually evaluated his lie and his estimated destination. He appeared calm on the outside, and without taking hardly any time, drove that ball with all the power he had, with confidence, towards the path he had set forth to get to the green. The unbelievable shot landed on the green just several feet away from the hole. Mind you, He was in the woods and somehow managed to not only get out of the woods but successfully be set up for a tournament win with the following two putts. It was amazing to watch this unfold as it did. No one would have thought he had a chance, because he was flanked by trees and debris, and could not even see the flag from the spot he was in. It had to be a faithful gut response to a very unlikely outcome.What else could he do but give it his best? He had no choice, and his efforts were his best indeed. It was magical.

Bubba, after calming the crowd, walked up to the hole, stroked the very last putt and sunk it. He took his hat off, made his appreciating gestures to the crowd and wept on his caddy's shoulders as they embraced in a mighty hug. It was the dearest thing ever to watch. Fox news reported yesterday that he and his wife had had a big conversation as to whether or not he should go and play. He didn't want to leave she and their new baby, and finally after much discussion, she encouraged him to go, as she told him they would be waiting when he got back.

I loved his remarks afterward in the interview right before he was presented with his green jacket, but there was one part especially that I adored. He was asked if he had ever dreamed of this? And his reply was that his dreams never had gotten that far. This was a guy who had found his nitche. He was a natural golfer and he played to play, never dreaming that he would be the winner. He knew he was good at what he did but the competition didn't seem to be his focus or his idol. He just played without restriction and did what it was that came natural to him, without reserve. It was said that he has changed the candor of the game, from playing with a very conventional approach to being the ever non-conventional player. Apparently he always has tricks that he pulls from his bag of talents, and they are very successful.

If you are not a golfer, maybe you have found this story a little uninteresting, but I am not a golfer and I have found it to be such an encouragement. For God has placed potential in any of us ordinary folks. We don't have to strive to be the best only to do our best, without reserve. We all land in the woods at one time or another and have a hard time seeing our way out of a situation, but if Christ is our goal and our focus is on that, and we give life our best shot, God will see us through to the end.
We will be winners because we will be doing God's will, and landing on his turf. I am convinced that there is great potential in each of us. We may not be in the spotlight, or accolades may not fly our way, but as God is watching, he is our greatest sideline cheerer when we submit to his ways.

Jeremiah 18:4
But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

We find ourselves often times in compare mode, looking to our left and to our right and seeing great things done by others which causes us to we feel inadequate and think: what do I have to offer? When in reality, we have everything to offer if we are trusting in God to lead us and guide us in his strength and wisdom. Our one little deed could quite possibly be someone else's lifeline for that day. A kind word said, a helping hand, or an encouraging conversation. We never know really what God is up to or how he works the pieces of his puzzle for his purposes, but as long as we are attentive, and give it our best shot, we too will land on target, God's target.

Philippians 1:9-11
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God.


Dear Lord, thank you for the blessing of using us ordinary folks to pull off your extraordinary purposes. Help us to do our best and be our best and stay focused on you and not the competition that surrounds us. Release within us the potential that you have given us, and help us to be a beacon of encouragement and joy to those whose path we cross. Amen

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!