Seeing the Whole Board

I remember watching this episode of the West Wing (over which I will probably still get grief from my very conservative father; Dad, it didn't turn me into a liberal, I promise) and the president and Rob Lowe's character were playing chess. And Sheen kept reminding Lowe to look at the whole board. It has stayed with me because I like to think strategically. What action will lead to the greatest good for the most people. And by and large I do okay, unless I am under quite a bit of stress or I think I have seen the task I need to complete to finish my larger plan. Case in point: when I was a kid, 12 or so, I was playing against my cousin in a game of Connect Four. We were several rounds in and then I saw it, the series of moves I needed to make to win. So I went after it with reckless abandon, and very quickly lost. While I went with a slow, sneaky route to victory, my cousin, seeing my distraction, went for a more direct path. That surety of victory replaced with the reality of defeat has stayed with me over 15 years because it reminds me of just how focused I can become on whatever it is. Then I stop looking at the whole board. Kind of like this last week.

I was in quite a bit of a funk this last week, mostly on Tuesday and Wednesday but a little for the rest of the week and on into this one as well. I didn't really think about what might be the underlying cause. I had some trouble with lust on Tuesday and I just wouldn't let go of the guilt or shame. I wasn't accepting the grace of God, even though I know better than to reject it. It doesn't serve Him to beat myself up or help me to avoid failure in the future. It's pretty meaningless. But the funk remained. And it didn't come together for me until Wednesday night what was going on. Hank had a meeting with the elders of our church Wednesday night about the direction of the congregation and his vision for it. It was one of those meetings that could well determine the future of our church for the long term, as well as what tasks we have before us in the short term. And even with knowing that this meeting was going to happen, even with knowing what is at stake, it didn't occur to me that I might face spiritual oppression leading up to it. And not just me but our whole crew. I forget about the reality of spiritual warfare. I stop looking at the whole board.

I was listening to John Piper this last week ad he was talking about prayer. He used the analogy that prayer is like a war-time walkie-talkie. He went on to say that the reason we have so much trouble with prayer is that we use it as if it were an intercom to get the attention of our servant. This just makes sense for the Christian. The Christian longs for Heaven, to see Jesus face to face, no more pain, no more tears, just unending joy and fellowship. Yet we are still on Earth, and with that being the case there must be a good reason why God has not called us home yet. And that must be to serve Him, to share His love and His grace to a world that is dying. And we will need His power to do it. So prayer is us on Earth radioing into Home Base for new orders or back-up or a resupply. It's not us asking for things to make us comfortable but that which makes us combat ready.

Even though I remained oblivious to what is now very obviously a spiritual attack, I was useful, for which I praise God. Nor do I think missing such attacks would make one useless. The issue is that if you are a soldier and you start taking fire, if you ignore it you will get shot. And I took more than a few hits because of my lack of awareness. All of that is to say, Lord, teach me to be more observant and to pray more in whatever circumstances I find myself in. I need Your wisdom and Your power so I can fight well, so I can bring glory to Your Name. May Your Name be exalted in my life.