The other day my head was so full of thoughts, all of which I was too tired to think, and my heart was running from my head so it wouldn’t have to process all the thoughts. When I get in moods like this, I do the mature adult thing and switch off both my head and heart and play mindless games for an hour instead of dealing with them.[Disclaimer, this was at night before I went to sleep. I would never skip ministry to play Candy Crush]
But of course God won’t let my Temple Run addiction hide me from him, and that day he wanted just that bad to talk to me.
If you’re like my mom and maybe don’t know how Temple Run works(which would make this story make no sense), the gist of it is that you’re running through this big temple(shocker) trying to run as far as you can and collect as many coins as you can without running into things or getting caught by the evil monkeys chasing you. My description makes it sound really lame…but it’s more addicting than you’re thinking.
Anyways, so I’m in the middle of a really good game, and I was doing so good that I started paying too much attention to my score and how many coins I had, so pretty soon I ran into a tree and died because I was looking at that stuff instead of watching where I was going.
When I’m in a bad mood, little things like this make me ridiculously emotional. Which I find hilarious even in the moment. So I sat on my bed, laughing at my sudden urge to throw my tablet out the window(which is always open so this was totally possible), and thought how it didn’t even matter what my score is in the middle because I’ll see it at the end. All I need to worry about while the game is going on is what’s in front of me.
And God said, “How many trees have you run into this month because you were looking at what you’re accomplishing instead of where you’re going?”
He was right, like always.
I laid in bed and ran with this analogy for a half hour.
-Sometimes I’m so focused on hitting objectives and getting medals that I forget that the stupid game is just supposed to be fun in and of itself.
Almost all the time on the World Race, I’m totally focused on what God is bringing out of everything we’re doing, how many(or how few) donations I’m getting and still need to get, etc, and almost never stop to just enjoy the journey with him. I have eleven months to just calm the heck down and love people, and I’m running around worried that I’m not getting enough done.
-When things start going good, I forget that I’m still in the middle of the Race and get too excited about what I’m learning and everything I’m seeing God do. That’s when I run into a tree, and God says, “I wasn’t finished teaching you yet…”
-In the game, when I die after a really good run, it takes me a while to want to start over and play again. I just worked so hard for nothing, why bother going back to the beginning?
Here on the Race, I just hit a tree after my best “run” yet. I hadn’t been homesick in weeks, I was getting along with my team, I was doing so good at having my Jesus time every day, I was so content with ministry…then I “died” on Sunday. I’ve spent this entire week trying to make myself hit the “run again” button when all I really want to do is throw the game out the window and take a nap.
But I love this “game,” and I can’t forget that just because it’s frustrating me every now and then. Especially when there are lots of people who need me to keep playing.
That’s where the metaphor falls apart, because it would make no difference to anyone if I never played Temple Run again. I’d actually probably have a much more productive life.
I still love when God teaches me in such weird ways. He’s hilarious and he knows me so well and I love him so much.
