The Great Game Plan

I wrote a play for the younger homeschoolers a couple years ago called "The Great Game Plan".  I still don't care for the title, but I loved the play.  It was about a girl named Teagan (played by my daughter -- but that's not why I loved the play) who dreams that the game pieces from all her games come alive and she joins them in an effort to capture the mischievous Mouse Trap mice.  In the process, she learns that all the characters she meets -- Cavity Sam from the Operation game, Lord Licorice from Candyland, the Hungry-Hungry-Hippos, and many others -- are created by their maker (e.g. Milton Bradley) to accomplish a certain purpose, and when they accomplish that purpose, they feel fulfilled.  And Teagan also was created by her Maker to do certain things.  She, in fact, is a synthesizer; she puts things together in new ways to do new things . . . which is how she helps them catch the mice.

The Mouse Trap diver (one of our lead characters):
"When I jump in buckets, I feel . . . complete!"

This has become kind of a theme in my life.  Because I believe in an all-knowing, all-powerful, loving and purposeful God, I also believe that we are all specially designed and placed to accomplish certain things, and if we do those things, not only do we feel fulfilled, but the world around us functions more smoothly.

Paul, in scripture, uses a body analogy.  We are all one body but each a different part.  The eyes were made to see -- the feet were made to walk -- the lungs were made to get oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide.  One part can't do another part's job, and if any part isn't working right, the body as a whole suffers.

I read something a while back that applied that idea to the secular world as well (duh -- as if there's a "secular world" not also made by God):

“Food pantries are important, but they’re not the reason far fewer of us go hungry today than ever before.  Most of us have jobs in which we never hand food to anyone.  And, strange as it may sound, that’s exactly why so many more people have plenty to eat.  Fewer go hungry today because some of us lend money to farmers so they can buy new tractors.  Fewer go hungry today because some of us design even better tractors, or tinker in workshops to keep the old ones running.  Fewer go hungry today because some of us look at spreadsheets to figure out how companies could spend less money on tractors and produce even more food. 

“Jesus told us to feed the hungry.  That’s what bankers, engineers, mechanics, and consultants do every day.  They’re table servers.”

In other words, figure out what you're created to do, what you're gifted at, what you have a passion for . . . and do it with intelligence, with integrity and for the glory of God, whatever it is . . . and you will be a part of God bringing justice and righteousness to his fallen world.  You may not be the hand giving the bread to the poor, but the hand needs eyes to see the need, blood to provide the energy, a heart to move the blood, and feet to get it to the place of need. 

Just be you.  An excellent you.  God is has the Great Game Plan and makes it all work together for good.