Lent: The Reason We Can Celebrate the Mysteries of the Messiah

Do you ever wonder what God is doing?

Are you praying and waiting, praying and wondering—all the while knowing that He is the God who could change it all…but still hasn’t yet? Sometimes it’s hard to understand.

We play checkers while God is playing chess. Have you heard this phrase?

We keep our red and black chips close, carefully strategizing their moves, one by one. A jump here. One square there. Checker by checker making progress, one stealthy move at a time.

Only one move at a time, of course.  

It’s impossible for us to strategize more because we can’t be sure what our opponent’s move will be. At best, we might get a triple jump! But even that is rare and precisely accomplished with the movement of a solitary checker.

God, on the other hand, all-knowing and all-being, plays a glorious Master game of chess.

He has every piece’s move carefully and strategically planned. And He is making millions of moves all at once—kings, queens, pawns, bishops and more—all in a singular seamless movement, beautifully orchestrated as the pieces move in time to parts of the interwoven plan.

God is always loving, directing, guiding, orchestrating for the good of His children and the glory of His name toward a grand and majestic pre-determined finale.

We are so limited by time and space that it is a mystery to us how He could be working all of these details of our lives together. All of the details of history together. All of the details of the eternity together. But He is!

Remember Joseph?

He was beaten and betrayed by his own brothers, sent to be a slave in a foreign land, imprisoned for wrongs that he never committed. I’m sure Joseph would have never chosen to move any of his checkers into those slots. But God was working as His pawn languished in jail. One amazing day Joseph was released and knighted as second in command over all of Egypt. Check. Because of Joseph’s rule, he was able to provide food during a great famine to keep his own family from starvation.

Check-mate.

God knew what He was doing, even though it was a great enigma to Joseph. Famously Joseph acknowledged, “God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20).

And God’s moves appear just as mysterious to us today.

Yet, they are still just as good.

How can we be sure, though, when it doesn’t always feel good? The Messiah is why we can know, why we can believe, why we can hope.

Does your family know about this mysterious Messiah?

Always working, always weaving, always acting to fulfill the promises He’s made to us, even unto death on a cross for our salvation.

It’s time to learn more about who this great Messiah is.

It’s time to teach your children about His wonderful, unfathomable love and sacrifice.

As Lent season approaches, take the time to teach your family about the God who we await.  Share with them how, because of this Messiah, when everything seems awry, we can know that a God who knows what He is doing is a good and loving Father.

For a few tips on how to do this, check out The Messiah Mystery by Ever Thine Home, a family-friendly treasure hunt that unveils the meaning of Lent.

Blessings,

Barbara

Barbara Rainey, wife of 42 years. Empty nester to 6 kids and 22 grandkids. Cofounder of FamilyLife. Creator of Ever Thine Home. Author & artist. Inspires women to see mundane moments as sacred and meaningful. Still in awe at being loved by God.

You can learn more about EverThineHomeHERE. And follow Barbara & EverThineHome onTwitter, Facebook, and Instagram.