Mental Toughness

Did you hear about Tiger Woods winning the US Open this weekend while fighting through knee pain? If so, you may have seen the new ad featuring Tiger's father talking about him. In the ad he says, "Tiger, I promise you that you'll never meet another person as mentally tough as you in your entire life. And he hasn't; and he never will." Maybe in his admiration for his son Earl Woods forgot about Jesus, who exhibited greatest mental toughness of all time, or made an obvious exception in his head.

I am sure hitting a golf ball through distractions, the pressure to win the US Open, and knee pain is quite challenging. However, I doubt that Tiger will ever have to play golf after having a spear stuck in his side or being nailed to a cross. Don't get me wrong, I respect the heck out of what Tiger did this past weekend (even more so now knowing that he will need season ending knee surgery)…but it wasn't nearly the punishment that Christ went through for us and it didn't save my soul. So, not only is God better than Shaft…he's also better than Tiger.

We should be overfilled with joy that Christ our Lord has the greatest mental toughness of all time. How wonderful is it for us to be able to rely on the great I Am who does not change in spite of difficult circumstances (Numbers 23:19)? When we trust in God and His resolve, He is able to accomplish great things for His kingdom regardless of how the situation looks at the time. The accounts of David slaying Goliath (1 Samuel 17), the account of the fiery furnace (Shadrach, Meschach, and Abendnego in Daniel 3), Paul on his missionary journeys, and the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:54-60) all show us how we can reflect God's mental toughness when we remain in Him.