Jonathan and I spent last Saturday in Augusta, Georgia, at the Masters Tournament walking on a lusciously green piece of real estate called the Augusta National Golf Club. When we were not following such notables as KJ Choi and Phil Michelson, we were sitting at “Amen Corner” in our comfortable green seats. From our front row vantage point, we could see the twelfth green, the entirety of the thirteenth fairway, and the thirteenth green, surrounded by a creek and sand traps.

When not watching 300-yard drives or 230-yard second shots to within ten feet of the hole, we feasted our eyes on some of the most beautiful landscape found on any golf course in the world. At Augusta, azaleas are more plentiful than Bibles in a church’s lost and found closet and more plentiful than stitches in the sewing room of the Ladies Quilting Society. We were in “azalea heaven”—more than 1,600 azaleas on this fairway alone.

What a day for two wannabe golfers! We saw all the current PGA greats including Michelson; Vijay Singh; Choi; Iowa’s favorite son, Zach Johnson; Mike Weir; Stewart Cink; and, of course, TIGER.

The Masters—the most prestigious golf tournament in the world—home of the “green jacket,” the signature prize for the winner of this grueling 72-hole tournament. Jack Nicklaus has six green jackets, while Arnold Palmer and Tiger each have four.

Tiger didn’t have his “A” game this time. His normally dependable putter became a sputter. Usually, the Tiger is stalking and prowling on Sunday, finding a way to win. This Sunday he was clawless. While shooting par at a very long Augusta National on a blustery, windy day is no easy task, it wasn’t quite enough to overtake the young South African, Trevor Immelman.

While thousands of people were following Tiger, hoping to get a glimpse of the greatest golfer in the world, I talked to him. I’m not kidding—I talked to Tiger. As he was walking up the fourteenth fairway after a crushing drive, he walked past where I was standing, and I said, “Way to go, Tiger. You can do it!”

I talked to Tiger, I really did—but he didn’t talk to me. In fact, he didn’t talk to any spectators. We cheered, clapped, and whistled as he went by us. He remained focused as a great golfer must be.

Jonathan and I admire and respect Tiger as a phenomenal golfer; but, he is, after all, very human. Isn’t it good to remind ourselves that we know the One who created Tiger (and Phil and Trevor)—the one who created the flowers, grass, and trees which adorn Augusta National? We know Him. He is Jesus Christ. And, the really cool thing is—we can talk to Him and He talks to us. He is a living and loving Lord!

Whatever our situation today—whatever issues we are facing—whatever financial problems and relational challenges—whatever mistakes we’ve made that are causing us serious pain—whatever physical or mental illness—the really good news is, God is living life with us. He really does “walk with me and He talks me and He tells me I am His own…”

Why don’t we take a moment and thank the Lord for who He is, for how much He loves us, and that He cares enough to interact with us so that we’re not living life alone. We can finish strong because of Him.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 17th, 2008 at 1:59 pm and is filed under Encouragement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.