Here’s a little story for all of you golf fans out there. As you may or may not know, the first full week of April brings about golf’s first major, the Masters (www.masters.org). In golf, there are the regular events and the majors. There are only four majors a year (the other three being the US Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship) and these tournaments are a little more highly regarded than all of the others. In golf, greatness is measured not by money or Tour wins, but major wins.

With that said, there is also a player on Tour known as “the best player never to have won a major.” This is a title that no one wants to have since it essentially means that you’re at the border of greatness but you just can’t get there. Going into the Masters the BPNTHWAM was a man named Phil Mickelson. He is a very talented player who has already won 22 times on Tour but he could never pull off a win at a major. Going into April he was 0 for 42 in the majors meaning he has played in 42 majors but never won one. But that all changed on Sunday. After holing out with a birdie on the 72nd hole of the Masters, Mickelson finally won his first major. It was a defining moment in his life. Afterwards he said, “I think the most difficult part of this 10-year journey has been just dealing with the loses time after time. It can wear on you. Except that you just can’t let it.”

Here is a man that has waited 10 years for his reward. There was never a doubt about his ability. He was always a great player, but he finally got this monkey off his back and he can move on with life from a completely different perspective. Now, how does this relate to our Christian life? Well many times in life we run into hurdles and obstacles. We know that there is a greater promise in this life that God has promised us, but sometimes we can’t see it or we become discouraged. So what do we do?

The Bible says that “we do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised” (Hebrews 6:12). That tells me that those who inherited the promises of God have had both faith and patience. Not just faith and not just patience but both faith and patience. See it would have been easy for Mickelson to give up and just accept the fact that he would never win a major, but he didn’t think that way. When asked about finishing his career without a major he responded by saying, “I had never thought about it.” Here’s a man who never even let the thought of finishing without a major even enter his mind. That’s exactly the way we need to think. The battle is won or lost in the mind. It is not a matter of if God will keep his word, but when. So if you’re waiting for God to keep his promise, keep waiting. Have patience because “they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31).