Solitaire

I love to play Solitaire on my phone when I am waiting, as in the doctor's office or a long line, or bored. Usually, I win 90% of the games. When I don't win, I just re-deal and try again. It keeps me entertained and satisfied...as long as I am winning.

Today, I hit a losing streak. I had played at least 20 games while waiting for my oil change. I had won only two. None of my past proven strategies worked; instead, they led to dead ends. The cards I needed were not where I needed them nor when I needed them. I got stuck over and over and was forced to continually begin a new game.

I don't mind losing, because I see it as an opportunity to learn and, ultimately, to win. However, losing at something I am normally good at just irritates me. Even worse, I knew the computer program was dumbing down each successive game so as to keep me playing. After all, that is one of the bases of addiction. Keep it easy and simple, don't let it hurt too much, and they will keep coming back.

As the game kept getting easier, and I continued to lose, I could not help myself from trying to make a connection between losing this game and living my life.

I wondered if this is how God works on us, our lives, and the lessons He wants us to learn. 

I thought about the issues I deal with in my life. Not only the pedestrian issues that ebb and flow throughout a given day, but the more pervasive problems. I have a few whoppers that have been hanging on many years for dear life, trying to pull me down into their chasm.

Perhaps those whoppers are still there because, like my game of Solitaire, I have not figured out the correct combination of moves necessary to unlock the mystery, solve the problem, and move to the next.

Like a skilled game designer, God continues to allow me to press restart, in the form of each new day.

But, I wonder, does He keep introducing the lesson over and over? And does He change it up a bit each time, possibly dumbing it down? I know He occasionally will throw a new card in the deck: a fleeting epiphany or a new friend to spin a different perspective.

However, He never allows us to re-deal the deck. We get the cards we are dealt; what we do with them is up to us.  Or does He? Maybe the re-deal is all in how we perceive our lives, our situations. He continues to guide us to intercept those issues hanging out there in the balance that He knows are critical for us to move on in His plan.

I know He never gives up on us; unlike many teachers and educators, even parents, spouses, and friends, who sometimes shrug their shoulders and throw up their hands in exasperation. Turning their backs and walking away from the problem. God does not do that. He knows our hearts, our capabilities.

Thank God He is not human.

But, like the game of Solitaire, we sometimes play out our lives in solitude, seeking a winning combination. As in any game, a few such combinations exist. All we need is to figure out which one works. God has designed a few failsafes and fallbacks that help us perservere, keep us coming back to Him. Once we recognize them for what they are, we can turn the game from a loss to a win.