Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12, ESV)
If you are moderately aware of golf’s major championships, great players, and historic courses, the name of the late Pete Dye will eventually pop up. Golf course architects and commentators wax poetic about the brilliance of some of Dye’s masterpieces—none more so than TPC Sawgrass.
At TPC Sawgrass, which “tests every aspect of a player’s game,” we find Dye’s magnum opus—the seventeenth, where he received a grand assist from his wife Alice, as he so often did. Together, they created an unforgettable hole.
Each year during The Players Championship, we are visually reminded of the triumphs and tragedies of shot after shot at the “island green.” We marvel at Sergio’s ace or Rickie’s mesmerizing, multiple tap-ins under inordinate pressure. We cringe as we watch Len Mattiace drop a couple of shots into a watery grave.
Playing golf, in large part, is about being tested. Can I hit a narrow fairway when it counts? Can I get it up and down from the “hay”? Can I two-putt from 40 feet when the match hangs in the balance? A veritable smorgasbord of tests confronts every player. This is true in golf; it is significantly more so outside the ropes.
When life is embattled or bitter or overcome with despair, it’s easy to say to Jesus, “Don’t you care?”
Throughout Scripture, we see men and women “tested by God.” In the opening chapters of Genesis, we see a test with life and death consequences. If Adam and Eve obey God, they will receive incomparable rewards; if they disobey God, they will suffer unspeakable calamities. Reading the Abrahamic narrative, in which Abraham was tested multiple times and in a variety of ways, invariably leads one to conclude that God tests those he loves. Note, there is a distinction between testing and temptation. James tells us that temptations don’t originate in God. Temptations originate from the evils of our hearts (James 1:14). Testings, however, do come from God’s wise and loving designs for our life (1 Peter 1: 1-7). But why?
One of the primary reasons the Father sends these tests is not in order for him to know what’s in our hearts, but that we might come to know what’s in our hearts and learn to rely on him more deeply. Recall when Jesus was asleep in the boat with his disciples and they were being pummeled by a squall. The disciples cried out, “Don’t you care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:35-41). When life is embattled or bitter or overcome with despair, it’s easy to say to Jesus, “Don’t you care?” As you know, Jesus calms the storm. Afterwards, he said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40). Paradoxically, God used this test to both expose a lack of faith and yet enhance their faith.
When we approach testings with a mind and heart informed by Scripture, we can know with deep assurance that our omniscient, omnipresent, and benevolent God has designed each and every test to mature us, to cause deeper dependence on him, to produce a life of prayer, to draw nearer in communion, and to remind us that he will never leave us or forsake us. He, in this life and the next, always keeps his promises.
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Dennis Darville
August 30, 2021
Copyright 2021 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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