Imagine your surprise if someone stood before you and announced, “It has come to our attention that the Hunter family is playing games on Kosrae with our financial support”? Even though I know how disturbing that news would be, I must admit that it is true. Before you call in the spiritual swat team, please hear me out.
Towards the end of our furlough in the states, dear friends of ours in Georgia introduced us to board game. It was easy to learn and an enjoyable game. As we left their home, they insisted that we take the game with us. Had they slipped us a $1000 check, new tires for the van, or some other mega gift, we would have surely acknowledged this as God provision. If it had been BIG, God would have surely been behind it, right? While we were thrilled to get the board game, I must admit that it never once occurred to me that God might have had something to do with the gift of a used board game.
A week ago we invited a local friend and his family over to our home for a meal. They used to live just down the road from us before we moved. My friend is a big man with a soft and generous heart. He even sends his children to our former church’s services. I might add that he is also an alcoholic, the biggest importer of beer on island, a tobacco user, and an admittedly lost sinner. Catching him at a completely sober moment is a rare treat. That’s my friend in a nutshell.
I have a love for this family that I can’t describe. God has pricked my heart for them in a similar way that He must have loved me, while I was yet His enemy. I don’t see my friend as a drunk or the scourge of society. God has opened my eyes to see him as God does. I wonder if my feelings for this family are similar to Christ’s as he comfortably sat with prostitutes, alcoholics, cheaters, diseased, and the dregs of society. My heart currently aches with my friend’s current condition, but it will forever rejoice if and when he and his family become joint heirs in Christ.
Dawn fixed up a wonderful meal and we spent the whole evening together. After everyone was stuffed, we taught them how to play the board game given to us by our friends on the other side of the world. I sensed that our guests were both defensive and awaiting a certain religious ambush, so we played games rather than discuss the obvious reality of my friend’s life being a train wreck. My friend loved the game so much that he (no typo) invited his family back over a week later. He even started talking trash about how he and his wife were going to beat Dawn and me in the next game.
They showed up this past Sunday evening with a load of meat for a BBQ and a desire to play the game. After being stuffed to gills, it was time for the game to begin. After all, the board game was a big reason he was anticipating our get together. Before we began playing on our supporter’s dime, my friend opened up the door for a conversation about God. He shared his future plans of turning to God when he becomes strong enough to change his life. Playing was gladly postponed for at least an hour as we discussed with them how they will never be strong enough or good enough to attract God’s love. The fact that God loves them just as they are and that He hung on a cross as proof of that love was a “turn their world upside down” moment. This kind of love and grace was in complete contrast to the island religion they have been saturated with since childhood. After giving them more than enough to cause spiritual vertigo and plenty enough for the Holy Spirit to use, we settled in for an enjoyable evening of playing games.
We accept by faith that God uses fiery mountains, a flood, talking donkeys, parting waters, miraculously appearing food, resurrections, and a host of other methods to get His human creation’s attention. These mega attention getting events of the past are the staples of our Sunday school curriculum and the texts of a plethora of sermons. If we believe that these mega methods are God’s only tools, is it any wonder we can get the idea that God is distant at best and has taken a hands-off approach in our lives? Oh yes, we acknowledge that God uses the evangelist during the big special meetings, the pastor who leads a mega church, the missionaries who convert whole villages while eating exotic foods, and the people and ministries that produce bigger results than ourselves. People reason that God must be in those things because they are about as close to Biblical mega moments as most of us have ever seen.
So where does this leave those of us who are not in the middle of a mega moment? Even scarier, where does this leave God in our lives? Will my kids only see God really working in their lives if they grow up to be people who orchestrate mega events?
Call me simple if you wish, but I see God’s handiwork in a used board game given to us by friends in Georgia — just as well as I acknowledge the Biblical parting of the Red Sea. What about Dawn’s meal cooked with loving hands? How about my kids who set aside their free time to entertain my alcoholic friend’s kids? How about the Packer game tapes sent from a friend in Wisconsin, which provided the initial common thread between my friend and me? Can God use these seemingly small actions to work His grace? Most would answer in the affirmative. Let’s take it a step farther. Does He do it? Do we see Him working in the so called mundane activities and events in our lives or do we continue to wait for the elusive mega moment? Was God actually behind the gift of a board game back in Georgia? How about my friend liking the game so much that he invited himself back, which gave us an open opportunity to clearly share the gospel with Him? What about all the seemly small events in your life?
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. 1 Corinthians 1:27
While finishing up these thoughts, a group of boys from the village showed up at my door. They wanted to know if I can take them to the gym to play basketball. It looks like it is time to shut down the computer so my boys and I can go play some more games on our supporter’s dime. I hope you’ll understand.
Steve