We Have A Winner by Guest Blogger Tamika D. Bierlein Recently I got to go to a family event where we played Bingo for fun. This entertaining evening gave me perspective about my relationship with God, and reminded me of some life lessons.
1. You have to play to win
As I got my cards and highlighters, I noticed some people did not participate. They watched from the “sidelines” as everyone hurriedly marked the numbers on their cards until someone said the magic word, “Bingo”! God put in my spirit, “If you don’t play, you are not going to win”. Too often we have been hurt and we stop moving aka “playing in life.” I know I have been guilty of doing just that. I basically let life wash over me and make decisions for me. But this simple game reminded me, if I don’t “play” actively, and get involved, how can I expect to “win” at it. Winning doesn’t mean a big prize, but accomplishing whatever your goals are.
2. God sets/gives/lays before you many wonderful prizes / life experiences, BUT you have to hear and heed his voice to partake of these blessings.
After playing a couple rounds, I won a card. I was excited because I knew some of the prizes were gift cards for restaurants or movie tickets. When the host came over to me, she held out 10 envelopes with the name of the prize in each envelope. I took my hand and started to scan over the envelopes. My spirit said to pick envelope one or two, but I didn’t listen because I thought those envelopes looked too flat. As I moved on to the middle, again, my spirit said to pick one of those envelopes. Once again, I kept going because I just knew the bigger prize had to be in a later envelope. So, I picked my envelope, and it turned out to be a card to redeem for a toy gift basket. I have children so this basket was ok, but my kids are growing out of the toy phase and more about experiences. The gift cards would have allowed us to go out to dinner or to the movies as a family.
Later as I reflected on that moment, God reminded me that it’s important to heed to his voice. When I do things on my own accord, I won’t always have some dire consequence, but I will miss out on the amazing blessings He has intended for me.
3. Did you pass the test? If not, what did you learn?
As I continued to play, I began to become aggravated seeing winner after winner with their gift card to different restaurants. I thought, “I wish I hadn’t won at all.” God brought forth a book I had just read that talked about life’s metaphors. It said “life is really three things; a test, acts of trust, and a temporary assignment.” The book went only to say, God wants us to look at life as a test of our faith to make us stronger. Experiences we go through are acts of trust to show our faith in him. They are temporary assignments because we are on this earth temporarily. Heaven is our final destination, so this life is just preparing us for the splendor that we will have with our Father. As I reflected on this, I was reminded that this was just a test. One that I could learn and reflect on. I realized I had to be a participant. I could not even hope to win a prize if I wasn’t playing. There is an old saying that God can’t steer a docked ship. You have to put yourself out there to even have a chance. I need to hear and act. That night it was not enough to hear / feel his gentle nudge, but I needed to act on it. Often times you know what you should do, but if we don’t act, that blessing will pass you by. Finally, God is a father of compassion. If we don’t pass this test, learn from it so you will pass the next one. So as I reflected on that day, I learned to listen to God’s presence not only in the big things, but the small things as well, because I don’t want to miss out on anything he has in store for me!
We Have A Winner!!!
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