Ok, it’s time to come out publicly and admit my secret…
I play Candy Crush Saga. I’m not addicted, like some folks I
know. I can stop at any time. I don’t spend hours every day…five lives at a
time…but I do enjoy an occasional game or two (or 10).
Wait, did I say enjoy?
It begins so deceptively. Just line up three candies of the
same color. But by the time they’ve sucked you in they’ve add striped candies,
wrapped candies and color bomb candies. I hear there are rainbow candies
coming.
But that’s not all. Then they add bombs, licorice, chocolate
(who’d have ever thought I’d hate chocolate), chocolate factories, bubble
wrap…the list goes on and on. Now I’m dealing with stupid Easter eggs. Are they
good? Are they bad? You’ll never know until they go off and mess up whatever
you’re trying to accomplish.
Some levels are easy. First time through and BAM! Then there
are the stupid, next-to-impossible levels that can take weeks to pass (yes…I’ve
been there). When I was in Honduras, my friend Sami (Hi Sami!) finally gave up
on level 98 and handed her phone to me to pass it for her. (As a side note,
have you noticed how some people want help and other people…say, our wives…want
us to stay as far away from their game as possible…even when you could actually
help…and maybe they get mad when you ask what level they are on because they
know you are so far beyond them when you play far less than they do…not to
mention any names!)
Usually it takes me a couple of tries to get the “trick” to
passing the level. I will admit that one time I played a level for a couple of
days, trying (without any luck) to pass, before I realized I had misread the
goal and was making it much harder than it was supposed to be. Duh!?!?
You probably saw this coming, but the Candy Crush Saga has
many similarities to our spiritual journey (though obviously not even in the
same galaxy of importance).
On every level of our spiritual journey we face the good and
the not-so-good. On every level God has a lesson for us that will deepen our
character and draw us toward Him.
Some levels are pretty easy. Other levels take time and
strategy and perseverance. Sometimes we need help getting from one level to the
next. Regardless, you can’t move from level 3 to level 20, except going through
4, 5, 6, 7…
God never graduates you to the next level until you’ve
passed the one you’re on…ever.
Your character is too important.
1 Peter 1:7 says, “Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine
faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps
this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as
evidence of his victory.”
I don’t know if there’s ever really an
end to Candy Crush Saga (other than me just moving on to the next “greatest”
game), but there is an end to this life. I want my life to display the evidence
of His victory. I want my character to reflect the majesty of my Savior.
Do you?
The Candy Crush levels are a great analogy to the faith, and moving along as God gives more challenges and things to test our spiritual mettle. I am learning that in order to be conformed to the image of Christ, like anything else, HIS strength and abiding in him will get me there. I am learning to develop relationship with Him even in the cracks of my time in a busy schedule. Wow, there was some kind of everyday worship book that was really practical about that...hmm. A verse that gives me comfort as I seek to be more like Him is Luke 18:27: "The things that are impossible with men are possible with God".
ReplyDelete