5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. So, there it is - the promise of the Scripture: if we are walking in the Spirit, we can know the life of Christ and the peace of God. If we abide in His peace, we can reflect the character of Christ - our minds are at rest, and we can think clearly. We don't respond in anger or frustration, but we walk through life with a sense of God's presence with us. It's a challenge to cut through the messages and circumstances that can cause our peace level to decline, but once we get locked in on God's frequency and acknowledge that He is with us, as we meditate on His Word, He will make Himself very real to us and we can experience that supernatural peace.
In John 16, Jesus was teaching His disciples more about Himself:
33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." He had told them in John 14: Let not your heart be troubled.There is much in this world that can trouble our hearts - everyday anxiety, the fear of certain things coming to pass - and even though the majority of things we worry about never come to pass, we insist in our frail humanity on getting worked up about them. God is calling us to abide in Christ, to come away, to retrain our minds to think upon Him and meditate on His Word. If we do that and resist the temptation to get caught up in worry and anxiety, we can experience more of the abundant life that He has promised.
Philippians 4 reminds us about the promise of the peace of God, in which we can walk:
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Austrailian Adam Scott is your new Masters champion - believe it or not, the first person from Austrailia to win the coveted green jacket. Greg Norman came close several times, and so has Adam, and he confidently made the birdie putt on the final playoff hole to defeat Angel Cabrera.
After consulting with his caddy about the break in the green, Scott tapped it in the cup and made history.
Bubba Watson made history, too - last year, he won the Masters; this year he made a 10 on a par-3 hole. But he's not angry. Yahoo! Sports quotes him as saying: "If you're not going to win, you've got to get in the record books somehow...So I'm a guy that got a double-digit score on a par-three."
ESPN reports that Watson said:
"I was playing Sunday, so no matter what place I finished I was going to get a paycheck, so I'll be able to eat this week, and then you've got to look back at no matter what, unless I make them mad, I'm coming back for the rest of my life, I'll be here and I'll have a green jacket sitting in the locker room," he said. "You can't get mad at the situation."
It may have been different for Bubba a few years ago. Here's a piece of a Golf Digest story:
"The Lord couldn't care less whether I win or lose," Bubba Watson said in August, in the collected version of the voice that cracked in April when he thanked his "Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ" after putting on a green jacket. "What matters to Him is how I play the game. Obviously a few years ago I was struggling with that. I was really angry on the golf course, and I've changed a lot, changed who I am as a person."That's a testimony to the presence of Christ - the expression of the peace of God, a sense of higher purpose. Michael Thompson is a former University of Alabama golfer who played in his first Masters and spoke at the FCA's Augusta Golf Breakfast. His comments are recorded in the Augusta Chronicle:
“If I played well, I was happy. If I didn’t, I was miserable to be around,” he said early Tuesday morning to a crowded gymnasium at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta.
A friend suggested that perhaps God have him a talent for golf for a reason. It changed everything...
“God gave me this gift of golf,” Thompson said. “My purpose - and what I have to do because he gave me this gift - is to go out and work as hard as I possibly can, go out and enjoy every minute on the course, and run the race.”For these guys, and so many others, it's about peace - and purpose. Jeff Cranford of the ministry Links Players International says, "When a player gives credit to Jesus, it's for substantively changing his heart and making him a different person. Which can have psychological and physiological implications. When you realize golf isn't the most important thing in your life, it can free you up to play better."
In the activities of this life, it's so important to appropriate the peace of God. We can do that when we refuse to get caught up in the pressures and struggles of everyday life and relinquish control to the Lord, whom we recognize has a purpose for us. And, peace can be present regardless of our performance - our success or failure. It's a great mindset for each of us - to seek to abide in His peace, no matter what.
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