Narrow Way Series - Week 5

Do Not Worry

Matthew 6:25–34

Welcome back to the Narrow Way Series. If you’re new here, I’m a follower of Jesus pursuing a career in professional golf and ultimately the PGA TOUR. Golf is a huge part of my life, but it’s also the mission field God has put in front of me. Through this series, I’m sharing what He’s teaching me as I try to live out my faith on and off the golf course. I do not have it all figured out but my mission is simple: to know Him and make Him more known.

And this week, that looked a little different than I hoped it would. Q-School has officially come and gone, and I did not qualify.

For those of you who have been following along, you know how much I wanted to make it through. I didn’t go there just excited to have the opportunity. I went there to qualify. I felt prepared, my game felt good, my caddie and I had a plan and I truly believed I was ready.

It didn’t happen.

And I want to be careful when I say what I’m about to say because I don’t want it to sound like I’m trying to put a positive spin on something that I’m disappointed about. Not qualifying is frustrating. I wanted it badly. My wife wanted it for me. My caddie wanted it. My family, friends, sponsors and so many of you were praying for me and following along all week.

But in the middle of that disappointment, I have an incredible amount of peace about it. Not because I suddenly don't care about qualifying or because the goal has changed. I absolutely do, and it hasn't. I just know that this result isn't the end of the story.

Some people probably won’t understand that. How can you work that hard for something, not get it and still be at peace?

God has been teaching me that peace and disappointment can exist at the same time. I can be frustrated with the result without questioning God because of it. I can want something with everything I have without needing to get it for God to still be good.

God had already been preparing my heart for this before I teed it up last week.

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been doing a daily devotional on Paul. If you’ve spent much time reading about Paul’s life, you know his mission was anything but easy. He’s beaten, thrown in prison, rejected and threatened. Then in Acts 27, while he’s being taken to Rome, the ship he’s on gets caught in this massive storm.

The ship eventually wrecks, but everyone makes it safely to shore.

You’d think Paul might get a little break at that point.

Nope.

They land on Malta. Everyone is soaked and freezing, so they build a fire. Paul gathers some sticks, throws them on the fire and a venomous snake comes out and latches onto his hand.

I was reading this thinking, you have got to be kidding me. The guy just survived a shipwreck while doing what God called him to do, and now there’s a snake hanging off his hand.

Acts 28 says Paul simply shook the snake off into the fire. The people around him expected him to swell up or fall over dead, but he didn’t. He kept going, and God continued using him.

Sometimes I think we convince ourselves that if we’re following God’s calling, things should work out the way we expect. If we’re praying, preparing and doing what we believe He’s asking us to do, surely the door is going to open.

Sometimes the ship crashes. Sometimes the snake bites. Sometimes you show up to Q-School believing you’re ready and you don’t qualify.

The mission doesn't change.

Not qualifying doesn’t change why I’m playing golf. I still want to know Him and make Him more known. Golf is still my mission field. I still believe I’m supposed to pursue professional golf with everything I have, and we’re working on what comes next.

We just don’t know exactly what that looks like yet.

And that brings us to Matthew 6.

Do Not Worry

In Matthew 6:25–34, Jesus tells His followers not to worry about their lives. Then He basically tells them to look around. Look at the birds. They aren’t storing everything away wondering if they’ll have enough tomorrow, yet their Heavenly Father feeds them. Look at the flowers. They aren’t worried about how they’re going to be clothed, yet God takes care of them.

Jesus is reminding us who our Father is.

That feels pretty relevant to me right now because I have plenty I could worry about. What’s next? Where am I going to play? How are we going to fund the next stretch? How long is this going to take?

Those are real questions my team and I have to work through. And I don’t think Jesus is telling me to ignore them. I still need to make decisions, raise money, practice, train and figure out where I need to improve.

But there’s a difference between preparing for tomorrow and worrying about tomorrow.

Golf has taught me a lot about that. You can have a game plan for the entire round, but eventually you have to hit the shot that’s in front of you. If I’m standing on the 10th tee thinking about the putt I missed on 7 and worrying about what might happen coming down 18, I’m not really on the 10th tee anymore.

I’m everywhere except where my feet are.

I can do the same thing with my life. I can spend today replaying Q-School or worrying about how I’m going to get where I want to go next year.

Meanwhile, God gave me today.

Jesus says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.”

Prepare for tomorrow. Be faithful today.

Seek First

Right in the middle of this teaching, Jesus tells us where our attention should actually be: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness…”

Seek first.

I still want to make the PGA TOUR. Not qualifying didn’t make that dream smaller. I’m ready to get home, figure out what needs to improve and get back to work. But professional golf can’t be first.

Jesus has to be.

There was a time when a week like this probably would have wrecked me because my score was way too connected to who I thought I was. God has changed that.

That’s why I can walk away disappointed and still have peace.

I don’t need the results to know who I am.

Trusting God doesn’t mean believing He’s going to give me every outcome I ask Him for. We prayed about Q-School. We wanted to qualify. We didn’t. God is still good, and the mission is still the mission.

Pray With Me

Jesus, thank You for today. Thank You that our peace doesn’t have to depend on the outcome we wanted. When things don’t go the way we planned, help us trust You instead of trying to figure everything out on our own.

Forgive us for the times we let worry take our eyes off of You. When we start carrying tomorrow before it gets here, remind us that You’ve already given us everything we need to be faithful today.

Help us seek You first. Give us the courage to keep going when the ship crashes, when the snake bites and when the door we wanted doesn’t open. Remind us that a disappointing result doesn’t change who You are or who You’ve called us to be.

Whatever comes next, help us trust You with it.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

Take It to the Tee

Maybe something in your life hasn’t gone the way you thought it would. Maybe you prayed about it, prepared for it and genuinely believed the door was going to open.

It’s okay to be disappointed. Learn what you need to learn. Make the changes you need to make. But don’t spend today carrying something that belongs to tomorrow.

Jesus tells us to seek Him first.

So that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to keep pursuing this game as hard as I know how and trust God with where it leads.

And when the ship crashes or the snake bites, I’m going to remember Paul.

Shake it off. The mission is still the mission.

I don’t know exactly what comes next. But I know Who I’m following.

Know Him and make Him more known.

See you next week.