Social Icons

twitterfacebookgoogle pluslinkedinrss feedemail

Pages

Wednesday 18 April 2012

Playing to Win


What is a common hurdle that trips you in your faith? 
Why Do People Play Games?
Playing to Win? Becoming the Champion? Or merely just a hobby?  

I am not very competitive when I was younger. Maybe that's why I never liked it when parents compared their kid's born talent or personal achievement. This does not mean I do not study hard. This is no excuse for not working hard. I just set a target and be thankful when I achieved my best. 

Looking back at times when I had some spare time, friends taught me how to play bridge, poker and mahjong. It was fun spending time learning new tricks from new people. The question is was I happier then or now?

Lately I haven't done much activities with my church group but I would love to allocate some spare time to them. Every Wednesday we will have dinner together then we kick start the night with ice breaker  before studying the word of God. You get to know the person very quickly and by the end of the night you may learnt the truth about the other person (if they are honest or course)

Is Life Just One Big Gamble or A Series of Games?

You can get hurt by a paper cut while some lose their arms and legs in car accidents; others die ... every day. You just don't let yourself believe it will happen to you.
When I attend a conference or a seminar, I ALWAYS envy those audience who step up on stage bravely as volunteers. While it can be a little scary to begin with, audience participation are often the moments I remember the most.

Over a decade ago LB went to a Church Ministry seminar. She cannot remember what the theme of the conference was, who was speaking, or even the particular seminar she had selected, but  she certainly remember the activity. The speaker taught the audience a quick little game they could do on paper in pairs. They could play the game over and over and the winner was the person who won the most rounds in a certain period of time.

The speaker gave them 60 seconds to play as many rounds as possible. The person who won the most rounds would win a ticket to the conference the following year. They all faced their papers in anticipation for the time to start and worked diligently. When the minute was over, she had only won four rounds while her opponent (a lady she had never met before) had won about six. Either way, she was a loser!

The speaker then asked the room who had won the most rounds. Her opponent were quickly overtaken as someone yelled out that they had won 13 rounds. At first she was impressed by this and thought they must have won all the games played during the 60 seconds. However, amazingly it did not stop there. As the speaker went around the room, they discovered that some people had won 30, 50 and even over 100 times. This was remarkable, as they had all been given the same amount of time.

Soon everyone discovered what had taken place. Instead of acting as opponents in the game, pairs had worked together, allowing one person to win all the rounds so that they could gain the prize at the end. While LB was ashamed that she had viewed this game as a competition and not as an opportunity to let someone else shine, I was impressed at their quick strategy.

While she watched and listened to others, she was not impressed. Some were selfish, greedy and lacking in integrity. Let’s just say that if they were playing the seminar game mentioned above, they would have been out to win rather than blessing someone else with the prize!

It’s often easy to read passage in the Bible and feel better about ourselves, however, each one of us is a representative of God here on earth. We are all called to have integrity and offer justice, mercy and faithfulness. After reading her shared story,  I must admit, many times I have thought of myself above others. It’s a challenge I constantly face. We all have our hurdles that can trip us up in our faith, but we must continue to look to Christ’s life and serve Him with all our hearts.

Lord, forgive me that I put my own needs before the needs of others at the moment. May I find time to sit back (rest) and take in nature. To look at the birds, listen to their singing, go hiking, camping and jogging and running, walking along the beach, playing games and sometimes being alone with the great outdoors. Only You understand my situation and You are very special to me.

0 comments:

Post a Comment