On November 22, 2016, I blogged about the computer solitaire game I play and how reluctant I am to be shown how to play it, similar to the way I often approach life. I like to figure things out by myself. Today, God gave me another message as I played…
I have the option to choose to play a winning hand. The daily challenges which appear on my phone each morning guarantee they can be won. Sometimes that is more of a challenge than other days. There are times I have to trust that I am playing a winnable hand, because as I flip through the unplayable cards it sure doesn’t seem possible. But eventually a pattern opens up, and I begin to see that it is plausible after all.
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14
Once we give our lives to Christ, we are given a winning hand. Because He is beyond time, He knows what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen in our lives. He has it mapped out. All we have to do is play the cards we are dealt. Sure we have choices, but He knows us better than we know ourselves so He already has that figured out, too. We only need to trust in Him as our loving Savior that it is His plan for it all to work out for the best in the end.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
If I can trust some unknown computer programer to give me a winning hand each morning in a game on my phone, how can I not trust my Lord and Savior – who paid the price by his death so I could win the gift of salvation – to guide my day?
Yeah, convicted.
An eighty year-old friend of mine told me of a cruel joke her older siblings would play on her when she was a little girl in order to prove their dominance. They told her they were going to give her to the “rag man”.
![MP900444553[1]](https://wheredidyoufindgodtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/mp9004445531.jpg?w=100&h=150)
grouse about it. How often does He detour me from danger and I complain because things are not happening “my way”? How often were those irritating moments that delayed me –like the cat hacking a furball in my shoe just before I went to slip it on, or a button snapping that I have to quickly repair, or the moving van blocking my exit from my apartment complex for a few minutes– actually work to my advantage without me knowing it?
You want to pull it, but you know you shouldn’t. That dangling thread on the seam of your clothes is bugging you. Does that describe your life?
dangling thread lest it unravel us. Hope, bolstered by prayer, is the best way to re-anchor our faith. We need to allow our Lord to be the needle which can guide the wayward thread and knot it so it doesn’t affect the rest of the hem that is our life.
If it is on us, then perhaps it is why we seem to fall short each year. After all, Paul reminds us that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
Perhaps, instead of focusing on how we should change, become more aware, adjust our weight, habits, etc. we need to shift our focus to the Cross. Not rely on our own strength, or even ask God to give us strength, but for Him to be our strength. May we choose to be other-orientated and open to being used to His glory. Let God set the path, and be pliable enough to be molded in the way He wishes so we can be His hands and feet in this world and point others to Him, not ourselves.
I always took the first part of the passage as an action. In my church, each Sunday we pray for the president, governor, Congress, city council and mayor. Over my life there have been times I gritted my teeth, but prayed anyway, out of obedience. After all, that is what Scripture tells us to do, right?
But we can act out what our coinage states and place our elected officials and this nation’s people under God’s care, trusting in Him. In other words, pray for them. We may not see a change in their attitudes or beliefs, but we may see one in us. Our hearts may become more palatable to loving our neighbors and our enemies. Our anxieties or frustrations may minimize. Hope may bubble up a bit more in our souls.
Have you ever noticed that a candle doesn’t burn long if the heat of the lighted wick does not begin to melt it? The wick ignites the flame, but it will quickly snuff if the wax around the wick doesn’t start to liquefy. The closer the wax is to the flame’s heat, the quicker it melts.
I have to turn my house plants ever so often or they will grow crookedly. They will repeatedly bend towards the source of light coming into my apartment from the window. Pretty soon, if I don’t rotate them, one half of the plants will be bare. Those leaves on the dark side will shrivel and die. The side aimed toward the light will flourish and grow. However, it will be at a skewed angle, and some of the leaves may be crowded out. It won’t look very healthy because the whole plant hasn’t been exposed the same amount to light.
