Last night we enjoyed playing the game ‘Risk’ with a friend who lives in Malaysia. He introduced us to the game a number of years ago, and so it has become a bit of a tradition that we play the game when he’s around. ‘Risk‘ is a strategy board game where the aim is to occupy as many territories on a political map of the Earth (divided into 42 territories) as possible, where players control ‘armies’ with which they attempt to capture territories from other players (with results determined by dice rolls.)
The game can last a very long time and fortunes fluctuate frequently. Our friend chose yellow as his colour, and early on in the game, was doing really well:
However, by the end of the game, there were no yellow armies on the board at all:
Nicky Gumbel, in his commentary on readings for today in the ‘Bible In One Year’ reading programme, writes “In an interview in Time Magazine, the great Swiss theologian Karl Barth recounted that he advised young theologians to ‘take your Bible and take your newspaper and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.’ When we read, watch or listen to the news it could be easy to get depressed. It sometimes seems that evil is triumphing over good. The plans of ‘the wicked’ seem to succeed, while others are subject to the ravages of terrorism, war, poverty and injustice. This is why we desperately need to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and listen to the word of God. As we study the Scriptures, we see the triumph of good over evil.”
We may well lose battles as we journey through life, but we can be confident because we know that God has won the war. God is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We know that every setback and failure can be turned into victory. We need to take a long-term perspective and realise that our confidence is in God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 15:57, see also Ps 60:12, Ps 118:15, Is 63:1, 1 Jn 5:4) No matter what battles we face, we can trust in God.