Think Bigger! - Genesis 17 Series

When I was growing up I grew up in a Christian home with parents who really had it together. I’m really grateful. My dad every evening before we went to bed he would play game with us. I remember playing games with my dad as a preschooler, elementary, even early teenager, we were playing games regularly. We played chess, we played rummy. Sometimes my dad would trounce me and sometimes I would trounce him (later realizing he let me win). But still, there was just this enjoyment of playing games.

But there was something else that was going on because my dad would make comments in the midst of those games. “Oh you got me there.” “Oh you’re really good there.” It’s the comments that he made about the games that really influenced me quite a bit in how I perceived myself and what that did for me. My dad was not just playing the game. He was playing a second game. There was always a second game for him when he played these games. I wasn’t even aware of that. When I had my own children I realized that sometimes I play a second game with them. I’m not just playing the game that’s there. I’m playing another game, a very important game and that is how I treat them and how I talk to them.

In fact I began to realize as I grew in my life that this second game is always present. It's not just happening in games. There's always a second game in life. That there’s the people that are caught up in the work that they’re doing and the making of money and the paying of the bills and getting their car repaired and fixing their house up. That’s all the things that are going on. But there’s something else going on above that. I realize that is what God is calling us to. He’s continually calling us to look above the things that are going on down here to another something bigger and better and important.

I’m sure that’s why in Colossians 2 the Bible says – Look at things above. Set your hearts on things above, not on earthly things. Because there's this different way of thinking about life. You can call it a game. The word ‘game’ is a little bit misleading because we know life isn’t a game. It’s real. But there's a different way to think bigger about life.

Sometimes I talk to young people, especially young people who don’t like to lose. You know they can’t play a game without getting mad if they lose the game. Or they’re having sibling conflict issues. Sometimes I will talk to them and I’ll explain to them about the second game. Many times when they understand that there’s another game being played they rise above the first game and they’re able to enjoy the second game and the influence they have on their brothers and sisters or the way they talk about how they play the game. Very important.

Last year one young man, an eleven-year-old boy…I explained it all to him. I thought I did a great job explaining it to him. and he says, “I don’t want to play that game. I still want to win.” I said to him, “Oh that’s too bad because you know if you always want to play the first game and that’s where you’re stuck, you’re going to experience a lot of sadness in your life. You’re going to be disappointed a lot because you’re going to lose sometimes. You’re going to be angry a lot because you’re going to feel like someone else got the better deal. You’re going to feel anxious about life. All of those things you’re going to get sucked in. In order for us to experience the fullness of what God has for us, we must rise above that to these things above.”

I think about that story in 2 Kings 6 where the servant went out to get the water for the morning. And when he went there he saw all of this army around. Pretty scary experience when you get up in the morning and you look at the news and you see all kinds of bad things going on in the world. He runs back in the house and he says to Elisha, “Oh lord, what are we going to do about this?” Those were his words. “What are we going to do? Oh lord, what are we going to do?” (Lord being the master.) What are we going to do? And the master says this. Elisha says, “Those who are with us are greater than those who are out there.” The servant says, “I don’t get it. There’s an army out there. Bad things going on. Lots of bad things going on back there. We’re stuck. I’m upset about this. What are you going to do?” Elisha says, “Lord, open up his eyes.” And God did. And when He opened up his eyes he saw an angelic army surrounding the whole house, protecting them from any kind of forces that were out there.