If I had to choose between my wife and my putter... well, I’d miss her.
Pray that I win!
I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. Philippians 4:11I once asked an athlete what I should pray for and got a simple answer: “Pray that I win”. That gave me a dilemma. Could I actually pray that one person should win and the others lose? Does God care who wins?
What if there are several Christians in the same final - does God give victory to the one who gets the most people praying for them? I don’t think so.
Normally I pray for the athlete to prepare well, have a sense of peace and to execute the race plan to the best of their ability. And to be able to accept the result, whatever it is. Rudyard Kipling expresses it well in his poem IF, where he writes of meeting “Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same”.
Over the past few days I have rejoiced and cried with people who have finally fulfilled the dream, have had to settle for silver (a great achievement unless you had genuinely believed for gold) or have seen the body let them down as they failed to reach the level this week that they have achieved all season.
Pray that you can learn to be content with what God has allowed to happen in your life. Remember that Jesus feels and shares your joy or disappointment.