My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. (Proverbs 3:11-12)
Golf is a hard game. If you’re like me and you want to improve, you have to put in the time. Physical practice, mental practice, and diligence are paramount.
I have always been a visual learner, so I watch a lot of videos of swings similar to my own. Because of that, I rarely watch golf purely for the entertainment value. I am always watching to pick up things that will help me improve.
The PLAYERS Championship is one of my favorite weeks to watch golf because you can see much more than entertainment. It takes a little doing, but if you dig into the available video outlets, you can watch pretty much every shot of any player that week.
I watch players who are not necessarily household names. If you watch the players not at the top of the leaderboard, you are quickly reminded of how hard this game is.
As I watched, I was struck by two things. First, on Friday, I happened to catch a little video of Scottie Scheffler receiving neck treatment. The commentators commented that it was possible that he might not even be around for the weekend. We all know that he won the golf tournament in a history-making fashion.
The second thing I learned is that players who are not near the lead and who are fighting to make the cut hit many shots that I can relate to, the ones that don’t come off exactly as planned.
However, their patience, diligence, and mental toughness are superior to mine. That’s where I am learning and working to improve. The successful players are the ones who show the most patience, diligence, and trust in the process. They focus on what’s in front of them right now.
I have been dealing with some stressful things and anxious moments lately, and through that, God has been waking me up at 3:11 AM several times over the last few weeks.
Finally, last night, I decided that 3:11 means something, and God is trying to lead me to something. So, I got up and started figuring out what he was leading me to. I wasn’t sure where to start, so I looked at the book of Proverbs.
The introduction to this book started with this sentence. “Knowledge is good, but wisdom is even better.” I was looking for wisdom and knowledge, so I decided to take a look at Proverbs 3:11. “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.” (Proverbs 3:11-12, ESV)
Reading this gave me hope that God is teaching me something. That led me to 1 Peter 5:6-7 which says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
My encouragement to you today is to listen carefully to the Holy Spirit as he speaks, and if you have trouble understanding what he is saying, go to his word for direction. It’s like golf and the Christian life. It is simple, but it’s not easy.
Prayer: Lord, help us hear you when you speak loudly and whisper to us.