Solitaire

Today I had a few minutes to kill so I played a game of spider solitaire on the computer.

I lost.

This annoyed me because I usually win.

On most days, I just start a new game, but something about today really annoyed me about losing.

Maybe it was because I got a really horrible score?

I decided to start the same game over, something that I had not done before.

I went to the game button, and clicked it, and then scrolled down and clicked on the

"Start this game again" button with my mouse.

I lost.

I lost.

I lost, I lost, I lost, I lost! I lost about a dozen times!




By now, I really got my teeth into this game.

I tried to figure out what was so difficult about winning this game today,

when I'd won so easily so many times before.

I started this same game over another half dozen times,

and actually got a lower score than I had when I'd only lost a dozen times.




NOW, I was starting to get really frustrated by this whole thing!

I clicked on the "start this game again" button, and wondered how many times

I would have to click that stupid little button before I actually won this game.

I wondered if there were some people that were as irritated,

as I was right at that moment that were playing solitaire.

I also wondered if there were people that played solitaire

and ALWAYS lost the first 20 or 30 times they played.





I sat there looking at the screen and then suddenly became very calm,

and realized that God was trying to communicate with me.

The reason I was having such a difficult time,

was that there were so many kings and queens cluttering the card stacks that it was difficult to find cards other than face cards.



It dawned on me that the short explanation of why I had lost so many times,

was that I was dealt the most difficult hand I had ever received while playing solitaire,

and then I also realized that in life we are all dealt different hands,

and some of us have been dealt really difficult hands in deed.

Some were born with money, some without.

Some were born with health, some were not.

Some are quite bright, others are not.

Some are from good homes and good families, others are from broken homes, dysfunctional families, and some don't even have any families.

It doesn't really matter what cards we were dealt, it matters what we do with them!




I sat and thought about this for a while.

I wondered how many times I would have to play this particular hand before I won,

and whether I should change something I was doing to help my chances of winning this stupid game so that I could go on with the rest of my day.

I realized that



the only way to win was to keep playing,

and that the only way to loose was to quit.



There IS no limit on how many times I can start this game again, and as long as I keep playing, eventually I would win.




WOW!

I realized that solitaire was MY life.

I mess up several times each day, but God forgives me each time.

He has told me that my sins are as far from His memory as the East is from the West.

I kept playing dozens of more times until I finally won.


It was then that I realized that Jesus is our "Restart this game" button,

and that His mercies are new every morning,

and in fact, even new several times each day.

Each time we fail, we can stop what we're doing, pray, and ask God to forgive us,

and then push the restart this game button again.

As a matter of fact, when we have been in our situation for so long that it doesn't even make sense to us,

(like when we're stuck), we can also click on the little prayer button (the "m" key)

and we can find options that we couldn't see before praying.

When you think about it, the ONLY way we can loose at the game of life,

is to stop calling on Jesus, to "restart this game", and to quit! 

Amen.



Solitaire

By

Franz Sigel Shroy