And he went outside and wept bitterly. (Matthew 26:75, NIV)
It was hard not to notice.
Harold Varner III, who played alongside Brooks Koepka in the final round of the PGA Championship a weekend ago, struck first that afternoon like a bolt of lightning. While Koepka faltered with an opening bogey, Varner stuck a wedge close to the flag, holed his birdie putt, and immediately cut the lead from seven to five. Wow!
In all competitive regards, it was the last we would see of Varner that day. He played the next 17 holes at 12 over par and carded 81.
Varner is not the first to have melted in the crucible of a major championship spotlight. Since 2003, Jeff Maggert, Hall of Famer Ernie Els, Jason Gore, Nick Watney, and major champions Retief Goosen and Dustin Johnson have also thrown up numbers in the 80s while playing in the last group on Sunday of a major. It happens.
Of course—because there have to be people like this in the world—Varner was not the first to take abuse for his public ignominy. One unnecessary “expert” comment on social media called attention to the fact that Varner’s final round backup cost him nearly $920,000, which is not a typo. Varner replied admirably, with a small bit of sarcasm and a larger bit of acceptance:
This is great didn’t know…life goes on. Let’s get better. Thanks for a little motivation.
I can’t tell you how HV3, as many golf fans know him, spent his Sunday night. He may have wept like Peter, broken by his mistakes.
But guess what came next?
The morning. Where Harold Varner found himself on the other side of his mistake.
Peter had double reason to run away. He had sinned grossly. And his sin was against the one who could crush him in a moment.I don’t need to ask if you have ever been there. We’ve all made tear-jerking, forehead-pounding mistakes. We’ve all betrayed a friend or lied to save our minor reputation. In a word, we’ve sinned. Regrettably. Painfully. And we’ve all walked away from the accident. Bruised or scarred, perhaps, but our lungs still receiving oxygen and our heart still pumping blood.
But we long for more than survival. We long for forgiveness, for restoration, for new life. Where is it found?
What I can tell you is that Peter was desperate for the one he knew could give him all this. It was Jesus, his “Christ, the Son of the Living God.” It was the one he called Lord.
Peter had double reason to run away. He had sinned grossly. And his sin was against the one who could crush him in a moment. And yet he knew that Jesus loved him. That if forgiveness was to be found anywhere, it was to be found in the Nazarene carpenter. Was such hope at all possible when Jesus had gone to the grave?
Let us say it this way: If new life could be granted from anywhere, it was from an empty tomb. No wonder Peter ran when he had been told that Jesus was no longer there. Redemption from his utter foolishness rode the winds of resurrection. So, my friend, does yours. Are you running to Jesus? Go!
—
Jeff Hopper
May 27, 2019
Copyright 2019 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.