The Right Pieces

I am not one who has a lot of games on her phone, but there is a app called Royal Match that I really like. From what I gather, it is similar to other matching games out there like Toy Blast, Candy Crush and, I’m sure, a myriad of others. Still, there is something about Royal Match that I like and so, I play it…likely more often than I should…but I digress.

Basically, in my game of choice, there are colored shapes that you have to match in order to accomplish a level/puzzle. If you’ve ever played Phase10, it’s basically the same concept. Collect or complete a certain phase in order to advance. Sometymes in Royal Match, I have to collect a certain number of a particular shape/color, sometymes I have to break a certain amount of piggy banks, or defeat gophers or grow flowers or even fill the game board with jelly. Perhaps you are beginning to get why I like this game? ;)

Now, and likely with the other similar games, certain combinations of shapes/colors create boosters that help accomplish the requirements of the puzzle. For example, combining four shapes will create a rocket that will collect/destroy everything in a line or column. Combining five shapes in a straight line will create a color ball that will collect/destroy all of a certain color on the game board, while combining five shape in an L or T formation will create a bit of TNT. You get the idea, I’m sure. Certain boosters are more helpful than others, depending on the task at hand.

The one thing I have not yet mentioned about the game is that each level only has a certain number of moves. If you do not accomplish the level’s requirements in said number of moves, you fail and have to repeat the level. That being the case, strategy is a huge part of playing this game. Therefore it is often helpful to know all the booster combinations, what they do and which boosters can work together to create and even bigger impact in the level. Sometymes, however, such knowledge is more of a hinderance than a help.

One day, I came to an incredibly challenging level. I tried several strategic approaches, but nothing seemed to work. So I decided that I needed to try a specific booster approach. Now, while boosters are helpful, they are not always easy to come by. As I moved the pieces around, I realized that I was using up a lot of the allotted moves in order to try and create the desired boosters. By the tyme I got the boosters in place, I didn’t have enough moves left to use them and complete the level. After several more attempts, I had to stop playing because I was out of chances.

As I put the game down and moved on to the things I should have been doing in the first place, I got to thinking that Royal Match is a lot like life. We have to move the pieces of our lives around in order to accomplish our tasks and complete our levels. We have to look around us and utilize what is available to create our booster opportunities. However, if we are not careful, we might find ourselves waiting for the right pieces to create the booster and miss out on the pieces we already have that will help us accomplish the level.

Jane wants to write a novel. Though she is a good writer, she is waiting to write until she understands what to do with her novel when it’s finished. Peter finished school and is offered a great job with a local company, but since the job isn’t directly related to his field of study, he turns it down to look for the job he thinks he wants. Instead of working toward the goal, Jane and Peter are using up their moves in order to try and create the boosters they think will help them move on to the next level.

Do not we often do such things in life? Instead of trusting in God to give us the boosters we need when we need them, we focus on trying to create them ourselves and we end up attempting the same level over and over and over again. We use up our moves by waiting for the right pieces to populate our game boards instead of using the pieces we already have. We boost ourselves right out of the blessings God has for us because, somehow, our strategy ends up centered on self, not on The Savior.

The truth is, it is easy to become reliant on ourselves to ‘create our own way’ or ‘pave our own path’ or whatever cliché you care to use. Life is busy and the world is constantly dropping pieces on our game board. We have to keep moving the pieces and keep trying to figure out where to put them, but we have to stay focused on the goal while we do. We cannot just shift the pieces around while we wait for the pieces we want to fall into place. If we do that, we will eventually run out of moves.

So, if we are struggling with important decisions in life or if we are frozen in life because we are afraid to make a move, perhaps we need to look around at our pieces and determine which ones are from God and which ones are from the world. If the piece is from the world, we need to move it off our board. If the piece is from God, then we need to focus on it and trust Him as we move it around, because that piece, my friends, is the Royal Match we need.