What does it mean to be 'ready'? Do any of us ever truly 'feel' ready for what happens to us in life?
I love the Masters Golf Tournament...It's a nostalgic and magical time each year the 2nd week of April. For those of us that love it, there is nothing quite like it. It is captivating and so many moments that happen at Augusta National get etched into our memories forever.
This year was no different, as 25-year old Scottie Scheffler, came on strong Friday afternoon and didn't look back until the Green Jacket was on his shoulders. In his post victory comments, Scottie shared very openly about how he felt on Sunday morning prior to his victorious final round. He acknowledged that he 'balled like a baby' due to the weight of the moment. He openly confessed to his wife Meredith that he didn't know if he was ready for 'all this' and felt totally overwhelmed. He knew that his life was changing and about to change dramatically, never to be the same.
He candidly shared how his wife reassured him, reminding him that God was in control. She challenged him saying, "Who are you to say that you're not ready, or to say that you know what's best for your life?" They acknowledged together that if the Lord was leading them (and they felt He was), if today was his time, so be it. Or, if he were to go out and shoot 82 and lose, he believed somehow God would use it for His glory.
I love these verses from the heart of David in Psalm 16...
vs. 2 - You are my Lord, for the only good I know in this world is found in You alone.
vs. 5 - You, Lord, are my sustenance and my life-giving cup. In that cup, You hold my future and my eternal riches.
vs. 7-8 - I will bless the Lord, whose wise teaching orchestrates my days and centers my mind at night. He is ever present with me; at all times He goes before me. I will not lie in fear or abandon my calling because He stands at my right hand.
And then again in Psalm 59...
vs. 9-10 - I will watch for You, for You keep me strong. God, You are my security! My God is one step ahead of me with His mercy...
Scottie was living these principles out...believing and trusting that his job was to just keep going and know that God was ahead of him...whether he felt ready for it or not. So, are we ever supposed to 'feel' ready, or does God 'make us ready' through our faith-filled obedience, and when the timing and circumstances come along, we just step into it?
I've also been so moved by the series, The Chosen, that has been so significantly used by the Lord...In Season 1, Episode 5, Dallas Jenkins and his team beautifully dig deep into what it could've been like when Jesus performed His first public miracle at the wedding in Cana. That famous exchange between Mary and Jesus, when after Jesus was asked to intervene, said, "My time has not yet come." And yet, could it be that Father God used Jesus' mother and the circumstance, to providentially catalyze the beginning of Jesus' public ministry?! That incredible line, when Mary says to Jesus, "If not now, then when?"...Wow!
I can look to so many times and seasons in my life when life just hit, and 'ready or not'?!...Isn't all of life really like that? I mean...think about it...every day of our life is a day/season/circumstance that we have NEVER been in before! So, in essence we live as perpetual 'rookies' day in and day out, trusting that the Lord is with us and has gone before us and will give us what we need in the moment.
Now, that doesn't mean we are 'off the hook' from doing our part...Scottie Scheffler didn't just wake up one day and find himself in that position...no way! He prepared, and was faithful to work on the skills that God had given him and align them with his God-given wiring and passions. He was faithful with what God had allotted him and put it to work, making it better!
Years ago, I learned this quote from my Dad...not sure where he got it, but it said, "Have Thy tools ready, and God will give thee work!" In essence...be faithful...work out, what God has given you...practice, stay faithful, consistent, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically...as best we can, and then let the chips fall!
I believe that's the life of a faithful follower of Jesus in a nut-shell. We are called to be the best version of ourselves that we possibly can be so that we can be those ready tools in the hands of our 'Master' and Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! I believe Scottie Scheffler won the 'Masters' because he was being led by THE MASTER, had his tools ready, and the Lord said, "IT'S TIME!"
"One step ahead...One step ahead...Lord in Your mercy, You're one step ahead!"