Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. (Philippians 4:6, NIV)
I always wonder if the pro golfers who are in contention have trouble sleeping the night before the final round. Louis Oosthuizen travels with his own mattress, so I know that sleeping in a strange place is something these frequent flyers deal with just like the rest of us—not very well!
But what I’m really interested in is whether the possibility of winning makes them tense. Does their anxiety about the outcome make sleep hard to come by and does that ultimately affect their performance? Jason Day has admitted, “I don’t sleep at all,” when he’s in contention, but he’s managed to win at the highest level, including a PGA Championship.
So how do these players overcome their fear? The most successful ones seem to find a way to look beyond their overall expectations and play the game in the moment. One shot at a time, one hole at time, one round at a time. Looking too far forward only increases their anxiety and makes good performance that much more difficult. When it comes to golf, this is one of the only ways tour players are like you and me.
God’s remedy is for us to bring everything that concerns us directly to him.In life, we believers are no different. Though we know we are not supposed to worry, we find ourselves restless and sleepless when important things are happening. They may be tomorrow or weeks away, yet they can lay hold of our attention and make us anxious.
How then can we achieve the peaceful life God wants us to experience?
The apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians spelled it out pretty clearly. When we experience anxiety about anything, we are to take it to God through prayer and petition. We are to talk to him about it. He will be our trusted counselor and we can be assured he not only knows the future but controls it. Knowing that we don’t have to control the future frees us up to live in the present, which is where God wants us to live. Anxiety is never from God. Fear and its twin, anxiety, are both liars. We are safe in God’s protective hands. We should be grateful for that.
Anxiety is powerful if we allow it to control our thoughts. It can destroy our present and make us less effective both now and in the future. God’s remedy is for us to bring everything that concerns us directly to him. We can leave our fear and anxiety on his doorstep and go to sleep knowing that he has our back. He will never leave us or forsake us, and if we trust him, there is never a reason to be anxious. He knows the beginning from the end. While we may be surprised by the future, he never is.
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Linda Ballard
April 4, 2019
Copyright 2019 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.