I had done well. I had come back. I had pulled through. I was proud of myself. I felt ready for the final big event of the season.

And then . . . the attack.

It occurred at the regular Tuesday play following the big three-day championships. I came in with confidence in my game, and started out just fine, but then I started shanking and hooking and chunking and my anxiety level rose. I had no idea what I was doing wrong. And this final event I was headed for next week was along side top club golfers in Northern California. My calm and confidence had just been shattered.

Now I was nervous and fearful of embarrassing myself. As the round continued, it was like I had never held a club.

Satan knew what he was doing. 

He had me focusing on what was going wrong. On the negative. Even after all that had gone right. And once I started to do that, I was toast.

But that’s how Satan works, isn’t it? His ploy is to have us focus not on God’s faithfulness but on our insufficiencies. He has us trusting in your own “chariots” (Psalm 20:7) rather than on the strength of God, and when our “chariots” lose a wheel, we feel vulnerable.

Fortunately, I knew what to do. I did not try to fix the problem myself as that usually led to worse problems. No, I set up a lesson with my instructor. He would be able to spot the issue and help me correct it.

Likewise, any time Satan attacks those areas we feel confident in, we need return to our true source of confidence—the master—God himself. 

God reminds us that Satan is always on the prowl “like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

We should go to the master instructor rather than try to fix our insecurities within our own power: Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight (Psalm 3:5-6).

In the meantime, we should “not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6).

​And if we do then “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (vs. 7).

Paradox:  “a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.”

Such is the Christian life. So much so that “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing . . . (1 Corinthians 1:18).

To those not saved, the ways of God make no sense or seem impossible. They seem paradoxical. And so . . . the greatest of paradoxes, the most important of paradoxes, is tossed aside.

And what is that? Sons and Daughters yet Slaves.

Once we become Christians we become God’s children and reap all the benefits of that relationship.

To those who have been saved “. . . you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27). 

“We are heirs and joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).

“In [Christ] we have obtained an inheritance . . .” (Ephesians 1:11).

But once we are His children in order to live a fulfilling and holy Christian life, we must submit to Him completely. As Paul puts it we must become slaves to God.

Romans 6:22 "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life”

So how does this make sense? A child inherits. A slave is owned.

But the truth is, in our freedom to choose, we will be slaves to something. With our free will, we can be owned by Satan who tells us that all of these worldly desires, possessions, or sins will fill the hole in our soul and the need in our heart even though we soon learn they won’t.  

Or we can be owned by the God of the Universe who loves us and gave His only son to die for us. And by following God’s statutes and commands and precepts, we are free from having to rename or reframe or minimize or justify our actions. We can live free and with a peace that “surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7 ) and we can “be perfect, complete, and lacking in nothing” (James 1:4). 

​We may think we know better because God’s ways sometimes seem upside down, but alas, we don’t, which is why Solomon reminded us to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” ( Proverbs 3:5-6).

I recently went back to my hometown to celebrate a milestone high school reunion—one that had plenty of miles attached to it.

It was incredible. The chair and her committee had paid so much attention to detail. 

Before the main event, they had a golfing opportunity and then a casual get together. Both allowed plenty of time to catch up in a smaller group. 

Then at the main event, they had memorabilia on the individual tables as well as in various locations. They also provided numerous photo shoot opportunities: two casual shot locations, another to commemorate you and your classmates who went to the same elementary school, and, of course, the entire class photo. 

They also paid tribute to those classmates who had already passed. The list was sobering, and one classmate reminded all of us there to enjoy each other because, most likely, there would be a few more gone by the next one.

And we did. We reached out and talked with old friends but also those we barely knew in high school because the common tie now was not high school interests, but our place as a class at the high school. We were no longer little islands of friends but one significant country.

As enjoyable as this reunion was, there is another reunion I am looking forward to so much more. That time when I am united face to face with the God of Creation and the Lord of my Salvation, and reunited with all of those believers who have gone before me. Those I have loved, those I have never known, and those I have read about and have always wanted to meet.

Though we will be with God the instant we die (as Jesus said to the thief on the cross next to him: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43))​ Paul reminds us that there will also be a time when all of us—the living as well—will be united in heaven with our new bodies.

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (I Thessalonians 4:13-17)

That will be a reunion that will never end. 

I felt sad and sorry for him and for all those he has hurt and those caught in the collateral damage.

Sean Diddy Combs. Up for charges of sex trafficking and sexual assault. Caught on security camera beating, kicking, and then dragging his girlfriend down the hall by her hair.

A man has to be so unhappy, so miserable, so—broken and lost—to act like that. And yet, he lacks for nothing—materially that is. He has millions. But it certainly hasn’t brought him one shred of happiness or peace. He is a tortured man.

The Bible is full of reminders that wealth, position, and power mean absolutely nothing when it comes to happiness.

Matthew 6:21— “Where you’re treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Sex. Money. Power. If that’s your treasure, you can see how much it darkens a heart.

Colossians 3:15: “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts”

John 14:27—Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.

Isaiah 26:3—You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

​All the money and power and fame in the world can not bring peace or joy. Only God can do that.

As Proverbs 15:15 says, “Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure with trouble.” 

Sean Diddy Combs is just the latest example of that truth.