Checkmate!

According to Wikipedia, "Chess is a game played by two people on a chessboard, with sixteen pieces (of six different types) for each player. Each type of piece moves in a distinct way. The goal of the game is to checkmate, i.e. to threaten the opponent's king with inevitable capture. Games do not necessarily end with checkmate – players often resign if they believe they will lose." Chess is a game that involves a lot of thinking, strategy and skill. There are people who are really good at it and are considered experts. Still others are considered chess masters due to their skill level being above the experts.

According to me, when God was giving out the "chess skills" He skipped right over me! I remember my cousin who happens to be pretty good at chess was attempting to teach me his skills. After a while of humiliating wrong moves, I finally gave up and gave my cousin the chair. Somehow, he came back and won that miserable game! The only thing I could think at that moment was "how does he do that"? Clearly he is a much better chess player than me - I will run circles around him in some basketball though :)

So many times in my life God has shown me how He is the Chess Master of my life. Just like those who play chess strategically move those pieces around the chessboard in an attempt to "checkmate" their opponent (don't even know if I use the term right), God strategically orchestrates our lives to help us win against our opponent! Even when we mess up like I did my game, God steps in (kinda like my cousin only a million times better) and makes an unexpected move in our lives that leave us wondering "how does He do that"!

Maybe you are going through a season in your life where you don't know what next move to make or perhaps you have messed up in life and feel like there is no way out. Let the Chess Master take your seat at the chessboard for a while and watch how He changes your game around!

"Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good." Romans 8:26-28 (MSG)

Checkmate!