For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7, NASB)
I find humor in the tales of meltdowns by good players who decide to up the ante from their regular game with friends and step into the furnace of competitive golf.
To that point, a group of us recently played in a Dallas Amateur Championship qualifier held at Cedar Crest Country Club, home of the 1927 PGA Championship won by Walter Hagen.
One friend started his round with a sextuple bogey 11 on the benign par-5 opener followed by a quintuple bogey on the par-3 third. Needless to say, he did not qualify.
Another friend had a penalty called on him for sweeping away a lipped-out putt, as he forgot everything needs to be holed out in these competitions. So disturbed by the thought his integrity was in question, he then rinsed his approach on the next hole from 70 yards, leading to a triple.
I managed to avoid trouble in this particular qualifier, but I have some humorous scars of my own, one of which I included in the Links Players reader Golf Wise. Playing in the top flight of my club championship, I started the second round just two strokes off the lead but somehow managed to give up 24 strokes to the leader. In one round!
Something happens to players when they find themselves in the unfamiliar position of playing “for real.” Just as practice reps improve our swings, we can only become better tournament players by exposing ourselves to competition.
My faith deepens each time I get out of my comfort zone and step into the “tournament conditions” of life.I see a similar pattern with our faith. It’s easy to memorize Scripture on our own and quietly take in a Bible study or Links Fellowship. But what happens when you get “In The Arena,” as described by Theodore Roosevelt in his famous 1910 speech?
Have you ever shared your testimony in public? Or ministered to someone who is clearly struggling with something in his or her life? Like tournament play, you won’t know how you’ll react until you put yourself out there.
As one who has shared my testimony many times, I can tell you it gets easier with each telling. Try it yourself and you may receive feedback indicating you should be doing it more, as we are called to do in 1 Peter 3:15.
Trying to counsel someone who is hurting becomes more comfortable when you discover “the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say” (Luke 12:12). Granted, Jesus said this to comfort those who would be facing a hostile audience, but I have found it also applies when loving on others.
May I encourage you to embrace “Daring Greatly,” a concept posited by Brené Brown in her groundbreaking book about vulnerability, inspired by the same “In The Arena” quote from Roosevelt? My performance in competitive play has improved with experience, but more importantly my faith deepens each time I get out of my comfort zone and step into the “tournament conditions” of life.
Need inspiration? See today’s verse.
See you in the arena.
—
Drew Hamilton
July 22, 2020
Copyright 2020 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.