When I am afraid, I will trust in you. (Psalm 56:3, NIV)
Russell Henley was shaking in his Nikes—though maybe after the way Henley played in Hawaii, it’s Rory McIlroy who should be shaking in his!
Henley, the first-event rookie who looked as collected as any storied veteran, admitted to a whole other feeling. “That’s the most nervous I’ve ever been,” he told reporters after the final round. “I couldn’t feel my legs or my arms.”
But most of us could feel the tingles as he made five birdies to close out his third 63 of the week and his third win between the Web.com and PGA Tours in his last five starts. It may be a bit early to say, “This kid is something,” but for the weekend at Waialae Country Club, he truly was.
Good for him. And good for us—another young gun to keep our eyes on.
It’s easy to wonder, though, how a golfer who can’t feel his fingers can produce one great shot after another, especially mustering up exceptional touch with the putter. Most every expert will tell you this: it comes down to your foundations.
Tour professionals practice and practice and practice. They build routines meant to serve them under the most intense pressure, when about all they can do is hope to get the club started back. From there, all that rote conditioning must kick in if the player has any chance of producing excellent shots one after another.
The lesson here is tremendous. For when we in our desperate hours feel our pulse quicken and recognize a fog in our brain, we too will fall back on the routines we have built. Do we make a habit of calling out to God every day? Then we will do so when it matters most.
David, flushed out by his miserable sin, cried out in repentance. Jesus, faced with a death he did not deserve of a form altogether vicious, fell to his knees. Paul, irked by a recurring thorn, pleaded with the Lord for relief. These were not occasional conversations, provoked by the circumstances. These men had talked to God hundreds of times; they had built a habit of utter dependence.
Our routines birth our responses when the going gets tough. A routine of prayer and study and worship prepares us for the hour when we are at the end of ourselves. We will know in that day just what to do.
—
Jeff Hopper
January 15, 2013
Copyright 2013 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.