Respect the Long Game

In the midst of the Christmas devotionals this year, I have been asking myself repeatedly… 

Apart from all of the interesting human and cultural details of the narratives surrounding Mary, the shepherds, and the Magi, what does this Christmas mean to me?

I think perhaps the one sentence that comes to mind is, “Respect God’s long game… and His end game.”

Growing up in Alaska, as I did, there were times when we were snowed in and couldn’t go to school. Mom and Dad would also stay home from work. The four of us (Mom, Dad, my younger brother, and I) would have round-robin chess tournaments, with the four players alternately playing each other to determine that day’s champion. Believe it or not, those were some of the most fabulous family times we had together. Laughing, eating, drinking, playing chess.

According to my dad, the real heart of chess wasn’t simply winning pieces or even winning the game. It was learning to respect the long game—the slow, deliberate unfolding of strategy that rewards patience over impulse.

In a much bigger way, God’s long game is the redemption of humanity and the ultimate defeat of the enemy of our souls, Satan. What looks like scattered moves or unrelated events is often part of a far greater plan.

When my dad played chess, he had a way of making you think the entire battle was happening on one side of the board. He’d stir up action—knights darting forward, rooks sliding into position, maybe even a dramatic move with his queen—to lure your focus exactly where he wanted it. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the board, he was quietly assembling the real threat.

While I was busy reacting to the commotion he created on the right side—trying to outthink his knight or protect myself from his queen—he was calmly preparing a trap on the left. And sooner or later, that trap would spring shut. By the time I realized what he had been building, it was already too late.

Playing against my dad felt like trying to outguess a man who was always three steps ahead. I honestly cannot remember a single time I ever beat him. What I do remember is that sudden sinking feeling when I’d realize the game was already lost—and he had known it long before I did.

God’s long game began in the Garden of Eden, and His end game began in a manger. The empty tomb was His checkmate move.

Here is the Youtube link for this podcast:

It’s All About Chess

Here is the Spotify link for the Podcast:

It’s All About Chess

Be Blessed!!!