October 7, 2002
CYBERCOLUMN:
It's your move ...
___By Donna Van Cleve
___My girlfriend Lisa and I should have been totally intimidated playing 42 against the self-proclaimed World's Greatest Domino Player, but we didn't have sense enough to be. It takes all the fun out of a game if we have to strain our brains. Therefore, we made quite a few moves that were totally off the wall, and often they worked in our favor. Our opponents' faces grew redder by the minute when we would win by accident, not that we'd rub it in too much.
___The World's Greatest Domino Player finally got mad enough to quit playing with us. His reasoning? We didn't play right. He could play brilliantly against players who knew what they were doing. He could predict their moves; he could correctly guess what other players held in their hands; he could set his opponents up to tear them down. But he hadn't a clue how to play against two novices who played with little or no logic.
DONNA VAN CLEVE
___ Sometimes we think we have God all figured out. We think if we pray like Brother So-and-so prayed, God would answer our prayer the exact same way. We think we can predict God's next move in a certain situation because he did it that way the last time. We make assumptions about God, and our faith is shaken when he doesn't act like we think he should act, or do what we think he should do. But he tells us in his word that his ways are not our ways. He's not playing games with us. He's not trying to trip us up. Sometimes it is a test of faith. Sometimes we need to learn to trust him. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our needs before we know them.
___God doesn't always speak to us the same way. I remember a Sunday School lesson based on the time God told the Prophet Elijah to stand on the mountain because the Lord was going to pass by. First, a great wind tore through and shattered rocks. That sounds like the mighty, omnipotent God he is, doesn't it? But this time God wasn't in the wind. Then an earthquake occurred. Surely God would speak through something as powerful as that. But God wasn't in the earthquake. After that came a fire. Now God represented himself as fire several times throughout the Old TestamentÑsurely he had to be in the fire. But God wasn't in the fire this time. After the fire came a gentle whisper, and God spoke to Elijah in that particular way at that particular time.
___But again, just because God spoke to Elijah in a still, small voice doesn't mean that is his standard modus operandi. Many times God speaks to us through the Bible. Christ set the example himself as he quoted Scripture throughout his ministry. It is amazing how Scripture written so many years ago still is applicable to us today. Sometimes God speaks to us through a person, whether it's a pastor, spouse, friend or even a stranger. Sometimes God speaks through circumstances or difficult times, when our ears and hearts are more open to listening to him. There have been times when I've had absolutely no idea how to handle a difficult situation, but when I gave it to God, I was amazed at his wisdom and ingenuity in working things out.
___So much about God and his ways are mysteries to us, but there is also so much about God that we can know through his word. We can know that his love for us is so far beyond our capabilities to love, as evidenced through the sacrifice of his own Son for us. We can know that what God says, he will do, as evidenced through the documentation of prophecy and promises throughout Scripture. We can know that God has placed signposts throughout history, and especially through the Jewish symbolisms, traditions and feasts pointing to his Son and the promise of redemption and salvation for all mankind.
___And the greatest thing that God promises us through his word is that we can know him in a personal wayÑwhich is so much more than the hopeful awareness that there's a supreme being out there somewhere. God knows our every move in lifeÑwhether we play right or not. He's waiting for each of us to reach out to him in faith through his Son. If you haven't done that yet, it's your move.
___Donna Van Cleve is director of the public library in Cotulla, a writer, wife, mother and member of First Baptist Church in Cotulla, where she is pianist.
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