If you know anything about me you would know that I absolutely LOVE playing the game Risk, and if you didn’t know that… well now you know how to love me. Risk is a board game that gives you a mission to accomplish and you spend the entire game trying to accomplish that goal. It’s a game all about taking risks, forming alliances, protecting your borders, and battling “the enemy”. In this game you may start in one country and based on your mission end up on the whole other side of the board in a different continent. If you are risky enough, you can go for global domination (meaning you occupy every country in every continent), but YOU GOTTA WANT IT!
So this morning I was reflecting on my time I spent back at home and was reminded of our game of risk we played my last night in LA and the countless rounds played on the Risk app (YES! THEY HAVE AN APP! I was excited too when I found out!). It was during my quiet time and I knew I had a lot of time this morning so I was okay letting my mind wander. But then as I sat there and began to think about the concept of the game I began to realize that the game relates to why we were put here on earth. (No wonder I was drawn to the World Race, it’s a relatively small form of global domination.) We, as Christians, were all placed on earth on random continents, sometimes near each other and sometimes spread out. We all have one mission in order to “win the game” through the great comMISSION… going out into all the nations and making Him known. We all build up our armies or in our case we plant churches to build up strong people in their faith. Depending on the mission that you receive, which is unique to each player, you may be asked to go to a different continent or maybe you were placed exactly where you need to be. However no matter the placement of your troops, you all share one thing in common, you are all fighting to accomplish your mission. In life we love the adrenaline rush of taking risks. How else can you explain why people jump out of planes thousands of feet up in the air relying on fabric to keep them alive? Why people put themselves out there in hopes of forming relationship? Why people walk on a rope across the Grand Canyon? It’s simple, there is something inside of us, whether secretly or outwardly, that draws us to taking risks. Similarly, life is a huge risk. Do I take that job? Do I date that guy? Do I wear that shirt (I know it may seem silly but I’m sure all you girls have been there at least once in your life)? The list goes on and on of things we take risks on daily. We form alliances… or a more relatable way of putting it is forming friendships. We find humans in this world that we can trust, that we can rely on, that we know will have our back. They may break their treaties, they may build up your confidence in them and then cross you but that’s the risk you have to take in making an alliance with them. You’ve got to protect your borders in life as well. Knowing your personal boundaries, emotional boundaries, and spiritual boundaries. In the game, if you own an entire continent then you get to put extra troops on the board, making you a stronger threat. In life you have to be careful who you let occupy countries in your continent. Are they adding extra encouragement, love and joy to your life or are they hindering you from growing stronger? And finally the battle. In the game to battle someone you just roll dice and if your number beats theirs then you win and take over that country. Seems simple right? Not a lot of work to fight someone? But isn’t life just the same? In our lives we face battles everyday. But luckily we serve a God who goes before us and fights our battles for us. Who returns back to us with the head of our enemies and allows us to make them our footstool. Who comes back and calls it our victory. Yet all we have to do is praise. All we have to do is worship. All we have to do is bow down. All we have to do is stay still and He will save us from any attack from the enemy, our great defender, and fight for us. Seems simple right? So in the midst of our attacks and our battles why do we turn to Him in anger asking Him why He would let bad things happens to us. When in reality, we don’t see that we didn’t protect our borders, we’ve lost sight of our mission, we’ve formed corrupt alliances, we’ve let our guard down and then wonder why we are always getting wiped out. In the game, every single person is set up with the same opportunity as every other player. Someone doesn’t get to start out with 15 troops and the other 35 troops. Everybody starts out with the same amount, an even playing field. So if we all start off with the same opportunity (we all have the same amount of minutes in the day) what’s your first move going to be? Based off of your life right now and the decisions you’re making (strategies) are you setting yourself up to win the game?
So I am currently sitting on a plane right now, leaving El Salvador on my way to Florida, then to Orlando, Tokyo and then finally arriving in Vietnam. And one of the last things you can do before your turn is over is to fortify your troops. This is when you can take troops from a different country and place them somewhere else to make an army somewhere else on the board stronger. So my mission is accomplished in Central America and my next mission is to conquer Asia, so I will be fortifying my troops to Vietnam. It is a closed country and it is illegal to be a missionary there, meaning we need to be extra careful in what we say. So I know we all would greatly appreciate prayers for safety, wisdom, and that the Spirit of God will move through us in creative ways. So my turn may be over for this round but the game isn’t over yet, I am just beginning to accomplish my mission.
