A few summers ago I attended the PGA Championship golf tournament
and I had one goal--
to see Tiger Woods up close.
And I finally got my chance on the 16 hole.
I lined up along the rope, about 250 yards down the fairway,
and Tiger Woods was teeing off in the, in the tee box.
And he sent a towering drive that we all lost in the sun.
But everyone started shouting that it was coming near us.
We couldn't see where it was coming, but we all did the same thing.
We ducked.
And the ball ended up going right past my head
and down and drilling the guy behind me in the achilles.
But it worked out well for me because the ball bounced off his achilles
and stopped about five feet in front of me.
And so that's where Tiger Woods took his next shot . . .
five feet in front of me.
And I left the day feeling pretty satisfied because
I was hoping to see Tiger Woods and I did.
As far as the guy behind me, I don't know what he was looking for that day,
but I'm guessing it wasn't a bruised achilles.
Do you know how that feels?
Not to get a bruised achilles, but
to look for something good only to end up disappointed?
Tiger Woods has been looking for a win in a golf tournament
for almost 10 years now,
but so far it hasn't happened.
And maybe, maybe you're kind of looking for a win too.
You're looking for a winning day in your marriage.
You're looking for a winning faith.
You're looking for a winning job.
You're looking for a winning salary.
You're looking for a winning something,
but at the end of most days do you find yourself feeling more satisfied or disappointed?
You know, in the bread of life chapter in John chapter 6,
Jesus says that we will find lasting satisfaction
when we feast on the bread of life.
He says that we can only find the bread of life
when we first come to the Father.
And he says we can only find the Father when we first come to the Son.
And then he says something really, really interesting.
In verse 44, in chapter 6, he says this. He says,
In other words, Jesus doesn't think you have the ability to come to him.
But before you get upset about that, just think about what that means.
It means that Jesus thinks you don't need to be strong enough,
you don't need to be smart enough,
you don't need to be secure enough in your faith
in order to come to Jesus.
In other words, Jesus believes that you can be kind of weak,
kind of dumb,
kind of insecure in all the most important categories of life
and you can still find the greatest things that God could ever give,
in the same way that I was able to leave that golf tournament feeling satisfied.
Because somebody else's pain
made that happen.
Except it wasn't a bruised achilles.
It was a whip,
and some thorns,
and some nails,
and some blood
that caused the pain that Jesus went through
so that you could live with the assurance
that there is nothing in all creation
that is going to stop you from one day getting to the one place
where there is no more death, or crying, or pain,
and where every last tear
is finally wiped away.
You might have a lot of questions about how to find satisfaction
as you go through any number of situations in life.
We have a book that might be really helpful.
Pastor Mark Jeske has recently written a book called, "More Straight Talk,"
a book that contains more than 150 questions and answers,
straight from God's Word.
If you click on the link below and give us a one-time donation,
we will send you this book for free.
And if you make your donation a monthly reoccurring gift,
then Pastor Jeske will sign the book that we send to you.
Thank you, God bless, and we'll see you tomorrow.
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