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Game Changer: Life is More than a Roll of the Dice
When you play a game, do you go in with a strategy? Or do you simply begin with no plan at all and just respond or react to whatever direction you’re taken? Most of us would likely answer that by saying, “Well, it depends on the game.” If you sit down to oppose my husband in Monopoly, you can forget about it. He is a wicked mastermind who will have you dishing out cold hard cash on every corner before you can blink an eye. Why? Because he has a game plan from the start, a methodical approach as he maneuvers himself through the rounds.
Then, what about Bunco? The game we played today. It’s merely a game of chance, right? There’s no specific skill needed and no opportunity to craft a tactical platform. Instead, a simple roll of the dice determines whether you win or lose. Now we might try putting our own mojo to it. We shake the dice three times to the left, three times to the right, blow on them twice and then let them roll thinking that we placed our luck on the dice and influenced how they land. But, in reality, we have no supernatural ability to impact the numbers that turn up. We roll and hope. That’s it. Nothing more.
So often we face life in that same manner. We don’t approach each day with a game plan. Instead, it simply rolls as it may, and we just deal with whatever turns up. As a result, our happiness tends to be dictated by that same ebb and flow of our circumstances. Much like you possibly experienced during your rounds of play today- happy when the dice landed how you’d hoped and disappointed when they didn’t. We mirror the same in life—we are joyful when things are going our way and we’re upset, depressed, or sad when they’re not.
Remember the board game Life? With the little plastic cars and the pink and blue people. A flip of the spinner and you’re off, having to make choices along the way. Do I go straight into a career? Or do I go to college and deal with loans and expenses? While each game is slightly different, the basic game is the same—flick the dial and choose a path. What an accurate parallel to our actual lives. While each of us has our own differences, the basics of our lives are the same—work, family, church. We’ve made decisions along the way that moved us in varying directions—some good, some not.
Those that left us in the dark and unable to see the sun from the thick of the leaves. The ones that left us cold and alone. The times we’ve felt trapped with no way out. All of us have likely been there at one point, and some of us may be there today. But those moments have a purpose. They are a preparation. Why? Because God has a game plan. Our lives are not a game of chance. True, we may not know what tomorrow holds, but we do know who holds tomorrow, and from the beginning of our lives to the very end, He knows what will be. There is no random roll of the dice.
So, how do we win at this game called life? One, we follow His plan instead of ours and, two, we fully embrace the Holy Spirit that lives within us.
God’s plan is not for us to spend time feeling lost and hurting. That comes from our own choices, following our plan. He simply allows it. Every day we have a choice. We don’t need to roll the dice or flip a spinner- we just make a decision—His path or ours. If we choose ours, that’s perfectly fine. He will be right there as we travel down it. No matter how many times we choose it, He’ll be watching and waiting. Waiting for us to choose Him, to opt for His path, and to get out of our own way. That’s where the Holy Spirit comes in.
Once we remove ourselves from the equation and genuinely allow God to live inside us, to fully encompass our being—there is no self. We need to realize something today: Our bodies are merely a vessel. Designed for the purpose of carrying the Holy Spirit—that which holds the heart of God Himself. Once we grasp that, then we understand that we hold His power. We don’t have to ask for it, “God give me strength to face this.” No, we simply need to call on it. His strength, His abilities, are already there, living and breathing within us.
Pause here for a moment—clear your mind and deeply think through these truths:
The same power that parted the seas, lives inside me.
The same power that made the lame walk, breathes within me.
The same power that raised the dead and made the blind to see, flows through my lungs.
Seriously consider what it’s like to know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that you possess that kind of power. Now ask yourself—have I allowed God full residence within me? I don’t mean that you’ve asked Him to come into your heart, forgive your sins, and make you a Christian. Rather, I’m asking, have you allowed the Holy Spirit to fully and wholly live IN you? Our bodies, the vessel He created in perfection, is a one-bedroom house with no room for two tenants.
You see, many of us still struggle through life because both self and the Holy Spirit are trying to coexist in the same place. As long as both are fighting for ownership, we’ll never achieve an existence of fully living for God—somebody has to move out. And THERE is our game changing moment! That is our strategy to face the unknown roll of the dice that life throws our way. Once the Holy Spirit is the sole resident within us, we have the power to experience people and situations through Him rather than from us. We’re able to view people with His eyes, to understand others with His heart, and to love them with His spirit.
Again, some of us may be down that long road right now. Dealing with unfair situations, hurt others have caused, or heartbreak we don’t deserve. Still, He gives us a game plan. His breath in our lungs fills us with the ability to endure and persevere with a loving heart, in the same way Jesus did. He suffered undeserved beatings, incredible pain and anguish that others caused, and hours upon hours of torture. Yet, what did He do in the midst of it all? “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He lifted up those who hurt Him. He didn’t say, “This is wrong! I’m innocent! Why are you doing this to me? I’ve been a good man and never done anything wrong. This isn’t fair!” Yet, how often do we find ourselves saying those exact words in response to things we’ve been through?
He didn’t say, “Oh, just you wait! I’ll get them back! They’ll get theirs. Their time will come. They’re not getting away with this.” Yet, still, how many times have we said those same words in response to our own encounters? Christ said, “Father, FORGIVE THEM.” He endured and persevered with a loving heart. Once we allow the Holy Spirit to fully live within us, we have that same power to pray for those who persecute us, to lift up those who hurt us, and to forgive them. We have not only His power, but we have His game plan.
He's already given us the strategy and His word reminds us that our lives are so much more than a roll of the dice. We don’t have to sit idly by and simply hope and wish. Our verse of scripture for today comes from Proverbs 19:21, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
We have His purpose. We have His plan. So, let’s use it! Start right now and commit to face each day with His game plan. It’s time to no longer just get through life, but to truly live it. Experience it. Enjoy it. You absolutely can win at this game of life—no matter what you face, with Him fully within you—you will win. He’s already given you a winning life, one that involves you experiencing pure joy, regardless of the situation and that is the real depiction of success. Nothing you go through in life, nothing that happens to you on this earth can ever take away your salvation or change His love, and in that—you win.
My dearest Father,
I am your precious daughter, and I come before you Lord, humble and open. Your word in Ephesians tells me that I am your handiwork, created to do good works, which You prepared in advance for me to do. Let me truly hear that today, Lord! ~ You prepared my life in advance!
Therefore—there’s no way possible for it to be just a lucky or unlucky roll of the dice. I will not get another chance at the memory today will be. So, I pray, from here forward, that I will be diligent in choosing Your game plan. That I move out from this one-bedroom vessel and allow Your Holy Spirit to be the only resident. And that I will actively call on Your power that already lives inside. Help me, Lord, to grab hold of that game changer from doing life my way and start winning at life Your way.
Amen
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