Strategy

I enjoy strategy games. The games I like are Backgammon, Othello/Reversi, Mancala, etc. Generally, they are one on one. You are always trying to out think your opponent and, to a degree, predict their next few moves. It's all a question of, "If I do this, then they will do?"

To a degree, this strategy orientation has served me well in life as well as on the game board. I can think well enough that I can plan for the future. I knew exactly what I had to do to graduate from college. I planned it so well and worked so hard at it that by the time my senior year rolled around I was finishing up just a few core classes and taking CPR/First Aid, tennis, and taking things I just thought would be fun to know about. I plotted out my strategy for grad school too. How could I fit all of the courses in so that when it was time for my internship and practicum I wouldn't be loaded down too much? (By this time I was working full-time and volunteering 2 places as well. And I didn't want to give any of it up!) It's meant saving now and playing later. It's meant knowing what to say, "Yes" to things or people or opportunities and when to say, "No" or sometimes "Wait."

It's meant that when needs have dictated (that I haven't planned on or strategized about) that I've had some flexibility. For example, my senior year in college, I did take a lighter load. But this was offset by the fact that my mom was terminally ill with cancer. The lighter load let me travel to be with her more.

But how does strategy work with faith? For that matter, does strategy work with faith? I think it is a yes/no kind of answer. (It seems that the older I get, the more I tolerate the grey areas of life. Maybe it's the wispy greys I'm finding in my hair lately) It's helpful to have a strategy for growing in my walk: regular time with God (prayer, Bible reading, reflection), regular time with God's people (church on Sundays, a small group study, etc, and times with people who have been on the journey longer than I have), listening to the Holy Spirit in whatever capacity he chooses to speak to me (the still, small voice or the claps of thunder or the flowers a friend helped me plant . . .). All those things are good, maybe even great, pieces of strategy.

I play Backgammon on-line. Basically, a game is 1 point each. A match is 3 points. The goal is to win the match. Lots of times, I like to think I can tell when I am going to win or lose. If I think I am going to win, I'll often send a request to double the points. This forces the opponent into accepting or rejecting the offer. (If they reject the offer, they automatically lose.) Likewise, if I'm fairly convinced I'm going to lose, I'll send an offer to forfeit that game. It drives me bananas when my opponent won't take my forfeit offer!

What does this have to do with faith? I'm thankful that God has never (and never will) take me up any forfeit offer! I can have the best strategy in the world (at Backgammon or faith) and still come up on the losing side. All of the things I mentioned above are great but without Christ they are just works, going through the motions. By themselves they get me nowhere. In that sense, my "strategy" isn't worth much.

Ultimately, though, I am thankful that God had the ultimate, unyielding, unbending, unbeatable strategy from since before the world began. He knew I couldn't work my way into a right relationship with Him, so when He planted the Garden of Eden he also planted the cross on top a distant hill.

His strategy is that He would bear what I cannot bear and on a daily basis that I would simply come to Him (triumphant or broken, happy or sad, healthy or bruised) and let Him lift me up to places I could not (though I might think I could) ever go without Him. It's a humbling strategy for someone who relies so heavily on their mind. I cannot think my way or work my way to heaven. Where I might give up in despair, God says, "There is no forfeit. You are too precious to me for that."

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This article is by Amy Brooke. Amy is on a journey of hope this year. You can check out Hope Chronicles at her blog. While on staff with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Amy co-authored FAITH ON THE EDGE: DARING TO FOLLOW JESUS. She currently makes her home in Normal, IL and attends Crosswinds Community Church.