And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19 NIV)
In Steve Williams’ new book, Together We Roared, which will be released in April, he shares several stories about his 12-year run as Tiger’s caddy. One of the more frightening stories he recounts occurred during the second round of the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
Tiger’s Friday round was delayed after twelve holes because of weather conditions. As Tiger left the course, he grabbed some balls out of his bag to work on his putting once he was back in his room.
The next morning, he did not return with the balls. It was not until they had teed off on their first hole that morning that Williams discovered that Tiger’s bag contained only three golf balls that could be used to finish the round. Six holes—three balls.
Williams did not reveal this potentially disastrous fact to Tiger, so began what Williams described as the most nervous 90 minutes of his caddying career. He was filled with fear, dread, and anxiety over the possibility of running out of golf balls and possibly costing Tiger a Major victory.
On their first hole that morning, Tiger scuffed up his ball on a shot from thick rough. Leaving the green, Tiger flipped the scuffed ball to a young fan. Down to two balls, fear and anxiety grew.
Then, on the iconic 18th tee, Tiger hooked his ball into the ocean. Panic set in as Williams reached into the bag for the last ball. He tried convincing Tiger to hit a “safe 2-iron”, but Tiger insisted on reloading with his driver.
Williams’ options—including being fired—began filling his head—more fear…more dread…more anxiety. Williams finally felt relief from the consequences of running out of “ammo” as Tiger salvaged a bogey for a two-shot lead heading into the third round of the tournament.
Fortunately, when we place our faith and trust in our Heavenly Father, we can rest assured that He will always provide for our needs and will never run out of His gifts.
Scripture provides numerous examples of God’s loving and gracious provision. When the Israelites complained about a lack of food while wandering in the wilderness after their escape from Egypt, God provided manna that came down from the sky to meet their needs (Exodus 16, NIV).
In the New Testament, the gospels recount two miracles—The Feeding of the 5000 and The Feeding of the 4000—in which Jesus turned some loaves of bread and some fish into enough food to feed the multitudes and still had several full baskets left over.
These stories powerfully demonstrate God’s willingness to supply whatever is needed to satisfy our physical needs. His resources are limitless, and he will always provide for our needs, no matter how great they may be.
Beyond our physical needs, we never have to worry about God running out of His spiritual gifts for us: His love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness. He is always present to provide those gifts to us.
On top of all those gifts, He gave us an even greater gift: His only Son, who died on the cross for our sins so that we may have eternal life.
How comforting it is to know that our Heavenly Father is always there to provide for us and that He will never run out of the gifts He gives to us.
No fear…no dread…no despair…no anxiousness. Just the joy and peace of being wrapped snuggly in His comforting arms forever.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we praise you, we worship you, and we give you thanks for all the many blessings you have provided, and we live in the promise that He will never cease providing for us.