Up a level

Confession: I have been addicted to Candy Crush for a few months now. It’s a fun little game that is tough to put down. The trouble with this game, however, is that the higher you go in levels, the harder it gets. There are easy levels here and there, but some seem virtually impossible. When you get to level 181, where I have been stuck for more than a month, it ceases being fun!

I find myself wanting to give up. In the past month, I have probably tried over a hundred times to pass 181 and go up a level. Other folks have done it, so I know it’s possible. In my opinion, skill is only part of what one needs to break through. This level requires a specific type of candy arrangement that lends itself to multiple advantages in one round. Until that arrangement comes along, it feels impossible. In the midst of this frustration, you guessed it… God spoke.

When all of the conditions are right,

when My timing unfolds, I will unlock your future.

Stop trying to make things happen yourself.

You guessed it. He wasn’t talking about Candy Crush! I immediately saw a parallel between my life and the game. All of my attempts at level 181 are just that. Attempts. Until the conditions are right, and favorable arrangements are provided, the next door will not open. Not in Candy Crush, and not in life.

We often forget that the most important factor in a situation that requires a breakthrough is timing. In our flesh, we have an aversion to waiting, and often give up before His timing unfolds.

The Lord has given me many promises regarding the future and some things that He has planned for me. For years, the details have been a mystery. Only recently has He started to be more specific. My inclination is to approach my future as I would approach Candy Crush, getting my hands in there to move things around and expedite the whole process.

My hunger for the next level makes me strive,

perform, manipulate, plan, maneuver and so on.

I wish I was as hungry for Him as I am to be promoted! I can pretend this isn’t the case, but my actions, attitudes, and impatience tell me otherwise: I want to get busy. I don’t want to wait. However, the Lord operates in a different fashion, as outlined in these verses below:

Our job is not to strive to make things happen. It is not our responsibility to make ourselves ready or worthy. Our job is to remain humble with the awareness that ONLY by His strong hand…

breakthroughs will come

doors will be opened

healing will come

provision will be poured out

dreams and visions He’s given us will be fulfilled

callings will become tangible ministries

In the meantime, we “can throw the whole weight of our anxieties on Him”. Let Him worry about the timing, the preparation, the provision, and the doors that still remain closed. If we remain humbly at His feet, we will be present the moment He unleashes His favor and flings the door open.

In the meantime, rest, learn, know Him. Abide in His word. The time will come.

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photo credit:

candy: king.com/games

prayer: thecupcakecartel.blogspot.com (text added from J.B. Phillips’ The New Testament in Modern English)