At First Baptist, there are several families who recently have been concerned that I was working too hard and not getting enough rest and relaxation. Some of those families came together here not too long ago, and they bought me a set of golf clubs. They knew back in the day, before I was a pastor and a dad, I used to like to play golf, but I gave that up for fatherhood and for ministry. But in their concern that I was not resting enough and needed more time to decompress, they came together, and they got me this incredibly generous gift. They have been faithful to reach out at some intervals, you know, every month or so, to see that I’ve got some people to go play golf with. It has been a wonderful experience, mostly because I love these men, and I love their families. And I’m so thankful for their care for me and their faithfulness. But it’s also fun to play a game and fellowship with other people. Not too long ago, I was playing with one of the members of our church. He gave one of those little quick prayers to the Lord, “Lord help me on this hole.” And he looked at me, and he said, “Pastor, does God care about my golf swing?” That question really hit me. It really struck me that that actually is an incredibly important question.

Now, here’s the thing I want you to know at the very outset. This is not about golf. So if you don’t care about golf, that’s fine. You can still listen to this podcast because this is not about golf. This is about, does God care about those things that I do that I like, that maybe somebody else doesn’t like, but which are important to me? If you like to go shopping for bargains, if you like to find a nice place on the beach, if you like to play video games or read books, everybody has something that they do to decompress. Everybody has something that they do to unplug. Everybody has something that they do for fun. And when God is speaking into this, he’s speaking into our lives. When my friend asked this question, does God care about my golf swing? He’s really asking a very important question, does God care about those things? So this is a really important question. I think the answer is really important. Let me say a few things by way of response.

God Cares About Rest and Recreation

First of all, God cares about rest and recreation. God doesn’t like laziness. He doesn’t like people who don’t work hard. But he cares about rest and recreation. There are all sorts of ways to prove this. The easiest and most obvious way to prove this is in the Old Testament when he creates the Sabbath day, the seventh day of the week, Saturday, when you are not allowed to work. He said, look, in six days, I want you to do all your work. But on the seventh day, I want you to rest. There is a statement here about a number of things. But one of the statements is we are people who need to rest. We are people who, after we work hard, we can only do it for so long, and then we have to sit down and take a break. We have to lie down and go to sleep. And we need to spend a whole day in the week doing nothing but resting. God cares that you rest; God cares that you have a break. There’s another thing God cares about. God cares that you bring all of your prayers to him. God wants you to bring all of your prayers and requests to him. In Philippians 4:6, the Apostle Paul is so clear. He says, “Don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” This is a command and a promise. The command is don’t be anxious about anything. Don’t be anxious about finding a parking spot at the mall. Don’t be anxious about getting the best deal on the handbag that you’re shopping for. And don’t be anxious about your golf swing. Instead of being anxious, what we’re supposed to do, is very clearly in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. There’s no limit on this in everything we are to bring our request to the Lord. If we need help with a putt, we’re supposed to ask the Lord for that. If we need help relaxing on our day off at the beach, we need to take that to the Lord. If we are concerned about even being able to have time to rest, we are supposed to ask the Lord for those things. God wants you to bring all of your prayers and requests to him.

God Cares That We Do Everything for His Glory

Another thing that God cares about is that we do everything for his glory. In 1 Corinthians 10:31, it says, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” Everything for the glory of God. Listen, if you take a break from glorifying God while you’re enjoying your rest and recreation, that’s a sin. If you try to tee off in a way that glorifies you and not the Lord, that’s a sin. If you try to go shopping with your friends in a way that doesn’t glorify the Lord, that is a sin, you are supposed to do everything for the Lord. We’re supposed to look at everything we do in life, whether we’re eating a sandwich, whether we’re playing golf, whether we’re preaching a sermon, or whether we’re sharing the gospel with our next-door neighbor. Everything, without limit, is to be done for the glory of God. Another thing God cares about is that we depend on him for everything. This is another great and glorious promise. In 1 Peter 5:7, it says, “Cast all your anxieties on him.” Cast all your anxieties on him. There is nothing about which you are anxious that you should not pray Philippians 4, and there is nothing that you are anxious about that you should not cast onto the Lord. Listen, if you’re anxious that you are not going to hit it straight from the fairway onto the green, you should cast that burden on the Lord. You really should. If you are anxious about what is going to happen in the book you’re reading, you should cast this on the Lord. Now, obviously, we need some perspective. Not all of our concerns are created equal. We need to have some perspective in our mind that as we’re desperate for physical health, for a child that might be struggling with illness or surgery, those anxieties are of a higher order than some of these other anxieties. But what I want you to understand is that God doesn’t put a limit. God doesn’t set a marker and say, here are the important things I want to hear about. And here are the unimportant things I want to worry about. He says cast all your anxieties on him.

God Cares for You

Here’s the most important part. Here’s why this is so glorious, and I hope you’re still listening, even if you don’t care about golf. What’s so important about this is in 1 Peter 5:7. It says, “Cast all your anxieties on him because He cares for you.” Oh, my goodness. Those are some of the sweetest, most tender words you will ever hear. Does God care about your golf swing? Does God care about your day at the beach? Does God care about your knitting? Does God care about your driving? If you want to take a drive to relax? Does he care about these things? The answer is yes. If you want to know why it’s because he cares for you. If you think God doesn’t care about this, it’s because you have learned about care from hateful people. We live life with people who don’t care about what we care about because they don’t care about us. We live lives with husbands who don’t care about the show that we’re interested in. We live lives with wives who don’t care what we did on the golf course. We live lives with parents who don’t care what our video game score was. That is not who God is. God cares about everything about you. He cares about how you eat your breakfast. He cares about your health. He cares about whether you feel tired or angry, or frustrated. He cares about the deal you got when you were out shopping at yard sales, and the God of heaven and earth loves you, and he cares about your goals.