The Chess Master

When I was in elementary school, I was involved in the chess club. Every week, we would go into the library after school and take turns playing against each other. Something that I learned quickly is that to win, you must always think a couple of moves ahead of your opponent. Chess is all about strategy. If you don’t have a strategy and just expect to move the pieces randomly as you go, then you are going to lose. Trust me, I’ve lost many Oreo bets trying to win that way. But the more I lost, the more I realized that I must have a strategy to beat my opponent.

As I think back on my chess club days and the importance of having a strategy to win, I had this question: How much of our life is determined by our individual choices, plans, and strategies, and how much is determined by God’s divine purpose?

After researching, studying, and struggling with this question I had this idea: God is the ultimate chess master in our life.

Let me explain. In the book of Isaiah, the prophet is speaking and writing to the children of Israel (God’s chosen people.) At this time, the original nation of Isreal had been divided into 2 kingdoms, the northern kingdom (still called Israel) and the southern kingdom (named Judah.) Israel and Judah had been living in complete rebellion against God and His commandments- worshiping idols, perverting justice, and seeking military help from pagan nations. Basically, they were living how they wanted to and forsaking God’s ways. This made God extremely angry so he rose up a prophet, Isaiah, to speak up and confront the dysfunction of his children.

In chapter 55 Isaiah writes, “Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts and neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways.” (Isaiah 55:7-9) God is saying that he is all-knowing, he can see the future, and he knows how each path is going to turn out before it happens. His knowledge and wisdom far surpasses man’s. So the people of Israel were foolish to turn towards their own way and live as though they knew what was best for their lives because in the end, it led to destruction.

Like the people of Israel, I have often found myself planning out my life exactly the way it should go without considering what God’s plans are. I say things like, “I am going to be in this position in my career, making this amount of money, in this specific place, with these specific people in my life.” However, when I look back, I realize that those things and people I was chasing after at one point weren’t in God’s plan for my life. I have learned that sometimes even the most painful moments and heartbreaks were actually God protecting me from situations that were unhealthy for my purpose.

Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Notice that he did not say “God works all things together according to our preferences, plans, and desires.” It says “His plan and purpose.” That doesn’t take away our responsibility to continue to plan, make decisions, and try different things because we obviously have free will, but it does means that God’s plan is what prevails.

In the game of life, we don’t know what the best moves are, God does. We don’t have all of the answers, God does. We don’t know who the best people are for us in this season, God does. We don’t know what the best strategy is, God does. Therefore, that is why we shouldn’t rely fully on our own strength, our own plans, our own knowledge, or our own understanding because those things will eventually fail us. If we will trust the divine chess master with our decisions, He will give us exactly what we need, who we need, and the exact amount of grace we need to accomplish His purpose for our life.

The Bigger Picture: God is working all things together for our good and is able to move situations, people, and opportunities in and out of our life just like a master chess player.