I heard this morning that Tiger Woods is to have reconstructive surgery on his ACL in his left knee and will miss the remainder of the year from a golf standpoint. This is sad news for the golfing community.
I have always respected Tiger and his work ethic. However, this news makes me respect him even more. He played 91 holes of golf in the US Open this past weekend (4 18-hole rounds and 19 holes in a playoff) over the longest US Open course ever (just on the course he walked over 21 miles on a very painful knee). In addition, it was revealed that he has two stress fractures in the same leg.
Yet, I never once heard him complain about it. Yes, he answered questions about it but he did not make it a big deal. He did not use his injuries as an excuse of any kind. He just battled through them and did the best he could...which was good enough to win his 14th major championship.
I know some people who have exhibited this same character trait. A good friend of mine named Rick recently ran a full marathon with a stress fracture in his leg. Though it was extremely painful, no one has heard him complain.
Buck, another great friend, was diagnosed with Parkinson's. His prayer request is never for healing but he always asks God for the strength to respond appropriately so that Christ may be glorified.
Cool stuff!
This doesn't just apply to physical ailments but to all situations. So how do you respond when things are not going the way you would like at work? Do you act like I do many times and get stressed and treat people poorly or do you do like Tiger, Rick and Buck and rejoice and fight through the tough circumstance?
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Philippians 4:4 (emphasis mine)
4 comments:
I am so humbled by the mention in this post, Jim, that I don't know what to say, but thanks for the honor. Of course, you and I both know, as Buck is such a great witness to, it's all to the glory of God. I was blessed by Him to have the ability to attempt that race in the first place and, since I don't remember much of the last 10K, He surely was carrying me, as evidenced by the people He had out there that day throughout the race course to encourage me and help me through to the finish, a couple of which I had never even met until that day. Our Lord is amazing!
Jim, great post. This is a great reminder to me about how to react to different stresses in my life. Many times I choose the wrong response!
Rick, thanks for your response. I really appreciate your great example in a lot of areas! And you are right, our God is awesome!
Bill, thanks for the kind words. I am with you in terms of choosing the wrong response often, especially with my wife which is strange. She is the most important person on this planet to me, yet, I don't treat her that way many times.
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