Next Move

Leave it to our kids to try to get up hooked into new technology...and Molly, our daughter has done just that with Mel and I. We each have these I phones...and with the I phones come apps. One particular one that she introduced us to over the holidays was "Words with Friends"...in other words scrabble. It is a fun way to stay in touch with her...and it also taxes my brain to try to come up with words...but some people are fast players while others just aren't. Instead of just having fun playing....there is this undercurrent competition to give it your best shot...for the most points. No harm in that....but you do as my mom would say "always" be thinking about your next move...so you can play in a timely manner.

"Always be thinking about your next move...." was one of those instilled lessons that my mom taught me whne we played games of any sort. Just keep things moving! We played scrabble but most of all she felt like it was important to play cards. She said you learn a lot in cards..you have to work with the cards that you are dealt... you have make decisions, you have to analyze the factors that surround you, you have to be alert...you have to always be thinking about your next move...and then you have to play..

And here I am years later...still thinking about those basic strategies...she made me think she was talking about the cards or games in general but in retrospect....she must have been sly enough to know that the same rules apply to life. We do have to work with the cards that we have been dealt..and everybody has been dealt a different hand. We have to be alert, anazyze the circumstances that are around us...make decisions regarding them...and then play accordingly...in a timely manner.

It is hard sometimes to make that next move...their are obstacles and hurdles and seldom any real guarantees. But sooner or later we have to move in one direction or another. And we have to be ready...but how do we get ready when so many of the necessary factors are intangible.True and genuine Faith in a lifted prayer...that's how. Too many times we are not given the opportunity to see the whole board of play...we only are able to view a partial play that has been magnified...and our choices seem quite limited....but God does see the whole playboard of our lives. And when we seek his counsel and His guidance and trust that he hears our prayers and wants only the best for us it is then that we stand ready to make our next move.

Matthew 17:20
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

It is hard to know sometimes what we should do or how we should do it...but I have found through many ventures in my life that God does have a way, when I sincerely ask him and seek his lead, that he does turn my attention to His designated path. Sure there are times when I think that I have gotten it wrong and misinterpreted His lead...but even in that event ...there is a lesson somewhere in the midst.

God does hear our prayers...every one of them...but he also makes a decision on His behalf as to how he will answer us. His ways many times do not line up with our requests...but what we can be sure of is that however he answers it, he will stand beside us and if we allow HIm to, he will help us achieve His purposes for His glory. If our next move is dependent on the wisdom that God has shared through His Holy Spirit to us, then we are in a most favorable position to be victorious....no matter where we land on the board....or whatever hand that we have been dealt. For those who play on God's team for His glory...are always the ultimate winners.

Dear Lord, help us to come faithfully to you when we are trying to make hard decisions. Open our eyes to see what is around us...and to carefully follow your lead. Help us to realize that whatever hand that we have been dealt will ultimately be a winning one if you are by our side. Amen

Praise God wherever you are or whatever situation he has allowed you to be in...for His glory will shine through.