The Human behind the Tiger

Monday morning Tiger Woods was found asleep in his car on a Florida roadway. The engine was running, the brake lights were on and the right blinker was flashing.  No alcohol was found in Tiger’s system, but he was charged with a DUI, possibly due to a reaction to prescribed medications.

I saw Tiger Wood’s mug shot in the paper this morning. There is something about an arrest picture that takes us by surprise.  We aren’t used to seeing celebrities at their worst, and a droopy eyes portrait at a police station isn’t flattering for anyone.

Thankfully, no one was hurt or killed as a result of Tiger’s impairment, and hopefully the golf icon who brought so much joy to the world will get the help he needs. It is possible his condition was the result of an honest mistake, or it could indicate a deeper problem.  Either way, I hope things turn around for Tiger.

What do you suppose your arrest picture would look like? Maybe you have one.  If you don’t, when you wake up tomorrow morning, look in the bathroom mirror and take a mug shot.  Don’t comb your hair or shave.  Don’t put on any makeup or wipe the crud from your eye lashes.

Just take the picture, and post it online.

What?

You don’t want people to see what you look like when you are still waking up in the morning?

Why not?

The reason is obvious. You aren’t at your best.  Few of us are.

When are we at our best? Probably, when we have had time to shower, shave, wash, blow dry and comb our hair, put on our best clothes and get enough blood pumping so we can keep our eyes open.

Are we less human after we do these things? No.  But we have successfully hidden the parts of our humanity we don’t want others to see.

The truth is, even if we posted our wake up picture, we still wouldn’t be showing people our humanness. In fact, our disheveled portrait might not be an accurate representation at all.  Our face might say, “I don’t want to get up,” while our heart and mind are already thinking about the joy the Lord has planned for us that day.  On the other hand, if we are one of those people who wake up looking like a model, we could be falling apart on the inside.

Looks can be deceiving.

However, there is someone who is never fooled. In the Old Testament, when Samuel went to the home of Jesse to identify a king for Israel, God gave him these instructions: “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  This advice led Samuel to choose David, the least likely candidate among all of Jesse’s sons.

This is exactly how God sees us. It is how He sees you.  He knows your heart and your thoughts.  He knows your struggles.  You are always very “human” to God.

With this in mind, I want to encourage you not to try to be anything else…anything else but human. Why waste time with appearances when God already knows what is on the inside?  When we are honest with Him, we can start dealing with our fears, hurts and sins, and move on to the life for which we were created.

If you have never been arrested I hope you never have a mug shot. But always remember God sees you as you are.

In so many ways you are already “busted.”