A chance to win

O LORD, come quickly to help me (Psalm 40:13).

More than ever before, a lot of people play electronic games. There are console games that simulate sports. There are on-line games that let you join friends in a role-playing adventure. Computer games have come a long way from playing solitaire without a deck of cards.

Game designers want to appeal to the widest audience possible; for this reason, many games allow you to set the level of difficulty. Some players like a stiff challenge; others are just looking for a few hours of pleasant diversion. By offering several levels of difficulty, a game can be fun for a wide range of players.

We do the same thing in sports. In golf, some players accept a handicap so everyone in the group can have a good time together. Baseball players are divided between minor and major leagues. It all comes down to fun—no one likes to get into a situation where there is little chance of winning.

Sadly, the most important things in life don’t make these kinds of allowances. When you bollix up a relationship, you can’t stop the game and reload from an earlier save point—every mistake you make has lasting consequences. If you’re in marketing, you cannot expect that every customer will be an easy sale.

Most critical of all is your battle with the devil. Satan does not go easy on anyone; he is ruthless in exploiting your weaknesses. If you need time to make good decisions, Satan will try and rush you. If you are shy, Satan will seek to embarrass you. If you struggle to keep your anger in check, the devil will provoke you. If you are afraid of making people mad at you, the devil will suggest that you tell lies. Satan is a major league player, and when you go up against him the game is set to the highest level of difficulty.

This is why we need Jesus. He has beaten Satan in every match-up. The Son of God partners with us, and His ability to do good more than compensates for our failures. If you try to win at life without Jesus on your side, you are going up against Satan by yourself and you are hopelessly outmatched.