Life is like a chess game

My family and I were eating dinner last night and the conversation of lifesize chess games came up...yes, lifesize chess, real intriguing, huh?  We have interesting conversations at the dinner table...well, anywhere haha. I don't know about you, but I've never played lifesize chess. I haven't even really played regular size chess before (unless you count moving the pieces around as if they're dancing). You know why I've never played? My dad tried to teach me and I gave up. It's too complicated for me. I'm a simple kind of girl. It's just not my kind of game, so I can't imagine what it's like playing it life-size. It has to be really hard to play life-size chess because you don't see the whole board. You have a totally different perspective than you would have playing a regular size chess board.

So here is how I look at it, right now, in this moment, we are playing a game of life-size chess. Our perspective is limited to what is in front of us, behind us and nearby us. This perspective can make it difficult to move along in life.

•  A lot of times we want to predict what is going to happen in the future and try to reach the back row of the chess board to checkmate (goal of the game). If we focus only on the future, we lose sight of what's going on around us. We miss out on living in the moment.
• Same as when we focus on the future...when we live only in the past, we are unable to live in the present (Did ya catch that? haha). Usually when we focus on the past, we are holding onto things that can't be changed. We hold on to hurt. We hold on to memories. We hold on to guilt and so on. All of these past experiences keep us from moving forward (which is definitely not good).
• Then when we focus only on the present, we lose sight of goals, dreams, and forget about our past.  

Obviously, these three perspectives can be a bit problematic. So we need to gain a  clearer perspective like God. You're probably thinking, "Whoa Chelsea, how can we do that?" Just keep reading :) I think of God's perspective being more like a person who is playing a regular chess game. He sees what's behind us, what's around us and what's in front of us.

 Psalm 139:1-6  says:

 "You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain..."

 

Although we will NEVER be all knowing like God (it's just not possible, don't even try), we can learn from many different perspectives.

 

So here is a strategy for our life-size chess game:

1. Don't focus on the future 100%...you'll lose sight of everything else.

2. Don't focus on your past 100%...it will keep you from moving forward.

3. Don't focus on the present 100%...you'll lose sight of your goals & forget your past.

4. Have goals for the future, learn from the past, live in the moment.

A sweet balance :)

5. Ask for perspective from others, because they have a different point of view, but especially ask for the perspective of your Creator

(He know's what He's doing, trust me).

 

Life-size chess can be pretty confusing, but when we take in all the different perspectives, it helps us get our checkmate!

Today's scripture is Matthew chapters 24 & 25, if you're following along in the year-long reading plan!