Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. –Psalm 23:4
At first, checkers seems like a simple children’s game. But give it a more careful look, and you’ll begin to see that checkers is a poignant metaphor for the daily struggle of life.
The point of checkers isn’t just to get your piece to the other side of the board; it’s to avoid getting taken out along the way. There are rules to obey, like you can only move in a certain direction. Oh, and there’s an opponent who is actively trying to take your pieces out. Each piece is in a struggle both to survive and to advance.
But if you do get a piece all the way across the board, it changes everything. That piece is crowned “king,” and now it is now a more powerful piece in the game, able to move multi directionally, and able to protect other pieces.
Do you see how this is like so much of life? So often we are caught in the struggle of day-to-day life, trying to survive against all that is thrown at us, and advance toward the next mile marker. And scripture teaches there is an enemy actively trying to take us out along the way!
But thankfully, there is hope. Just like the checkers piece, as we experience intimacy and connection with God, we can begin to take back lost ground on the journey of being made more and more in the likeness of the King of Kings.
