This is a story about who made an unexpected appearance on my Team recently…

Background –
Maybe for you it’s going to be the most famous names in sports, names like Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams. Or maybe Joe Montana is your pick for quarterback [he would have been my all-time selection] and perhaps Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson at Guard? What about Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods at Augusta? What if I told you that none of these famous names in sports matter because they really don’t matter-at-all. What matters most in the end is the same thing that mattered most in the beginning, and none of those things are “of this world”. What I want you to realize is that Jesus Christ is the only one you need to draft to be on your team. Jesus is God incarnate for he will eventually rule over all along with every square inch of this planet on his return. It is written. The return of Jesus will be accompanied and preceded by a very difficult time for believers in Christianity. It will also become very ugly for non-believers who still occupy the planet. Many will perish, if I remember correctly perhaps two-thirds of the world’s population will die during this 7-year period. However, some believers in Christ will survive the “tribulation”. Then once the Earth is cleansed of evil that will mark the beginning of the “Millennial” period as promised in the New Testament.

My Match Play Competition –
Why am I talking about this? Because “with God, all things are possible”. I’m going to tell you a story, it’s a golf story. A couple months ago the coordinator for one of my local golf groups announced that we were going to have a single player “Match Play” competition. Last year, I didn’t enter because I think I was re-habing a knee or something. This is where two competing players net their handicaps and the winner is the one who can win more holes over his opponent in a single round. Therefore, it’s not based on the difference between final scores. I remember handing my $25 entry fee to the coordinator and saying, “This is just a donation to help support the group, I’m not going to win anything”. That was my attitude but he quickly rebutted my statement by saying “all you have to do is win the most holes!” Shaking my head in disbelief [over my ability to handle a golf club] I walked away. 27 players entered the competition that day and so nine 3-player pods were formed to begin. My first two adversaries, who are both better golfers than me, reached out in a matter of days to ask if I would play both of them in the same round? I agreed. Driving to the course that morning I thought to myself, “just relax, if I lose it’s not that big of a deal, after all they’re good, and I’m not”. They carted together while I was in a cart by myself. By the first hole they sure knew it was going to be easy to eliminate me as I found trouble early, double-bogeying the hole. Next hole, I double-bogeyed again! By the third hole I began to show some life this time ending with only a single bogey and I kept improving as the morning went on. I began hitting some crucial short putts too, suddenly like never before. By the back nine I noticed their enthusiasm [for eliminating me] had begun to wane? They had been keeping the official tally so I didn’t know exactly where I stood with them just yet. Then a bit later, while I was standing on the 12th green the first one walks up extending his hand out. I said, “why are you congratulating me?” He responded because you just beat me, and a look of surprise formed around my face. Then on the green at hole 14 the other one walks up to say “Congratulations! I’m out – you won.” I was thinking to myself “Wow!” So with my first two opponents eliminated I moved up and once we got down to nine golfers three new pods were formed. Surely this was a fluke I thought as I will not survive my next two opponents. The next two players I had to face were two of the best golfers in the group no doubt, one carries a 3 handicap and the other around a 6.

This is how the next two rounds unfolded. I couldn’t believe when I was still up by one hole after hole 16 against the first one. Then on 17, a short par 3 we pushed so we headed up to the 18th tee box. Now this is one of the most difficult tee shots on that course. From the whites it’s about 145-150 yards to carry over the water, then water runs down the entire left side of the fairway past even the green. My tee shot was a low line drive off the toe gliding low over the water before tailing off to the right over the cart path and against someone’s property line. It would turn out to be one of my worst shots that day but at least it carried the water, but that was not much consolation I thought. My ball was still barely in play, I was surrounded by trees and numerous large tree trunks. I decided to play the next shot low and pop it back out onto the fairway at least in the general direction of the green. The shot went okay but I was still sitting 165-170 yards from the green and dealing with a strong headwind. My next shot to capture the green I pulled left, it had distance but snaked around eventually bouncing below the left side of the green and dangerously close to the water’s edge. My opponent was happy to see this as he had no real issues other than his approach shot landed a bit short of his target. Now I’m lying 3 on a par 4 and I have a steep hill to chip up and land on the green. This is one of the most difficult shots to execute in golf. Somehow my ball scaled the climb and bounced probably 6 ft. from the pin? That was when I heard one of our foursome yell out – “nice shot!” I climbed up onto the green to find my opponent’s ball sitting only 4 ft. from the pin while mine was around 6ft. away. He was only lying 3 and putting for par and I was already lying 4. All he had to do was make this putt and our competition would have ended in a tie. He missed the putt and keeping with the day I made mine. So we ended up with a net push again, and I held my one hole advantage to eliminate him.

Facing my next opponent I also finished with a narrow victory on 18 as well. What happened this time is I landed in the water from my tee shot on 18. He played from the red tees so everything was copacetic for him heading down the fairway. However, due to sending my tee shot on a swim I’m now forced to take a drop at the 200 yard marker. So I took out my “fix-it” club which can [on a good day] do 200 but only when the force is with me. However, this time I hit a monster shot, and heard a couple players gasp as they watched it launch thru the air and pretend to roll-up [on the green]. Instead this ball took a detour right and stopped just before a sand trap. I was in thick grass and would need a decent chip to fix things if I were to have any chance of winning. I was now lying 3. My opponents approach shot left him short of the green. Then his follow-up shot, a first attempt to chip up to the hole was ineffective. Way short so now he’s also lying 3. After the chips and putts were all done it came down to another push and once again I held onto a single hole victory!

Summary Findings –
To date there are only three of us left in this Match Play competition so we three have entered the “Winner’s Circle” meaning each one will end up either 1st, 2nd, or in 3rd place. I’m not expecting to receive anything better than 3rd place and personally, I am elated with that. Reflecting on this whole thing, to come from where I was in the beginning to climb this far? Well it had to be divine intervention for there is no other explanation, for all of these golfers are more skilled than me, every one of them are a better golfer than me. I think this was God’s way of revealing his personal message to me, the message is to place my faith [in him] first and in “everything”, and always keep him in mind for my personal “dream team”. I plan to take each opportunity [I find] to strengthen this newfound faith I have mustered, cultivate it, in order that I may never forget that “With God and Through God” all things are truly possible… now how about you? 😉