I have played a lot of games lately, I would go so far to say that some in my family are gameaholics.. One game we played a lot of was a game called 7 Wonders. There are many ways to win. You can invest in science, you can build buildings, you can make a great army, you can build wonders, you can stockpile resources, you can stockpile money in your treasury, or build guilds. The winner generally has a combination of all those things or does really well at one or two of them. Any number of strategies would work in bringing you victory.
One thing I personally struggle a lot with is making decisions, more specifically, making a decision when there is more than one great option in front of me. I want to honor God in all I do and I pray about all of my big decisions. Sometimes though, I spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about them and I get stuck with my feet in the mud. I pray and pray and pray (or worry, and worry, and worry) and waste a lot of time. Anybody that has played a strategy game with me probably understands. I am usually the slow one, spending a lot of time plotting my next move, and usually over thinking it. When there are two equally good options, what route should I take? Should I take the science card or the building card? They each will probably give me the same amount of victory points in the end, but...you just never know! You know!
Sometimes I get caught into the "finding a call for my life" trap (which is really just a selfish way of trying to find the "thing" that will make me self-fulfilled apart from God). He gives me great options to choose from and I think in general He is usually waiting for me just to pick one, and dedicate that path to Him. In choosing between good or evil, the path is clear. In choosing between good or good, it gets harder but I should step out into one of the good paths without over worrying or over thinking, and just put my faith in Him, and use it to bring glory to God and not myself. He gave you and me our passions, our talents, our resources, our family, and the people that are in our life. No matter what good path we follow, don't you think God has something to do with it anyway?!
The great thing is that unlike a game, we won already. We may be in the midst of the game but Jesus has already declared our victory. All we have to do is take it and then in our spirit of gratitude choose one of the good paths before us. I know for one that if I were playing 7 wonders and I was guaranteed victory in the end, I would play a lot differently. I would not agonize over which cards to play, would make decisions a lot faster, and would joyfully play for the love of the game and for the love of the people I was playing with.
That begs the question, why do I worry so much about my path in life when I have already won? Why am I not living my life with joyful abandon? Where is my faith? Life is not a problem to be solved but an adventure to be lived. Lets not get caught behaving as if our salvation hangs in the balance over every decision. WE CAN NOT LOSE! Lets live wide open. Lets take chances. Lets build without worrying if it will get torn down. Lets run without worrying about getting hurt. Lets love without worrying if we are loved back. Lets live as if we can not lose. I mean, that's what we believe right?
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