Game Over!

Hey you, guess what? It’s all over! You don’t have to stress and struggle and constantly wonder anymore. The whistle blew! The buzzer sounded! The game is at an end…

What game? Well, I’ll tell ya - it’s that game everyone on the planet is always playing where we try and one-up each other. It’s that game where the motivation behind everything we do is to try to prove that we’re good enough, strong enough, fast enough, smart enough, pretty enough and successful enough. It’s that game you can never, ever win because no matter how hard you push and try, there’s always someone who outshines you.

That game made you date that guy you never should have, right? You were trying to feel better about yourself, so you played the game and got hurt. That game took you to all those parties you never should have gone too, right? That game made you look at all the wrong stuff again and again when you were all alone because you were so low and so lonely, right? Losing that game over and over made you feel so hopeless and empty that you hurt yourself, right? 

I’ve got news for you - the game was rigged. It was all a sham from the beginning. There are no winners. Even those folks who look like they’ve got it all are dying inside. If the game was about trying to prove you’ve got what it takes, you lost. We all lost. No one has ever won that game, and that is a very, very good thing.

When you realize you don’t have what it takes and you throw your hands up in desperation and tell God you need to be rescued, something incredible happens. It’s not that you win a rigged game… no, it’s better than that. It’s that GRACE comes into your heart and suddenly you don’t care about the games any more.

Grace is the laughter of God saying, “Okay, you don’t have what it takes - so what! I love you anyway.” Grace is the assurance of God saying, “You’ll always be mine no matter what you do forever and ever.” Grace is relaxing, because God is taking over the reigns. Grace is refreshing, because it comes brand new every morning. Grace is an oasis, because (Hallelujah!) you don’t have anything to prove anymore. Stodgy, grumpy church people are afraid of grace because they’re still playing the game. They’re afraid that if I tell you about grace, you’ll go and do whatever you want. But check this out: Grace is scandalous, dangerous and adventurous. Grace is the freedom to finally be you.

The game is over and Grace wins.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.” - Ephesians 2:8-9