Christian Life Compared to Zuma

I don't know if you've ever played this game before, but lately I've become quite addicted to it. Last night I was thinking about how similar it is to life. Let me explain. There are a stream of colored balls that come from some *unknown* place outside of the viewing screen...let's say this is our lives. You're the little frog that shoots balls at life...your actions. There's a little guage at the top of the screen that measures how many points you get based on the amount of balls you shoot and the reactions it causes other balls...approval, or life experience. When the guage fills up, balls stop entering the screen and it is your job to get rid of all of them. The only thing we don't get in real life is, well, the amount of lives. In this game you have three extra lives to begin with, if you mess up, you get to start all over again from the very beginning. However, we all know that in our own lives, we don't get to start all over. Could you imagine what would be different in your life had you avoided certain situations?

Anyway, if you fill up the screen too much (i.e., shoot too many balls at your life expectancy, they all go through the mouth of a skull taking every other ball with it - not just the part you messed up.) I can't remember how many times I intentionally shoot balls just so I can lose the last life...I get fed up with losing and just end everything. Thankfully, that's not my attitude in life.

This analogy is important in a lot of ways. First of all, the force that continually shoots a stream of balls is God. He's not unknown, however many people view Him as unreachable and distant. Eventually, He does stop your life. He does stop giving you new situations and new people, and you have to deal with what you have. It's your attitude that makes the difference. Are you going to be happy and having a winning attitude, or are you going to think about how much your life sucks and how alone you are? Often times when I'm playing Zuma, I have a sucky attitude. "Ugh. I'm never gonna win." And unsurprisingly, I DON'T win. But when I think of the level as just like any other level (maybe just a little faster and a little more difficult) I see that it becomes easier in my mind.

I love when the guage fills up and you hear a booming "ZUMA" from the speakers. It means that no more balls will enter your screen and the level is almost over. It makes me happy because I know that now I have a managable amount of balls. They're still moving faster and faster toward the skull at the end of life, but if I can successfully remove all of them, I get extra points! You can even earn more points by hitting coins off to the side of the screen or by taking shortcuts. I don't think God cares how much money you have at the end of your life. I don't think He cares about how quickly you got the job done, but how WELL you did the job. Luckily, God doesn't base His acceptance of you on how well you handle the situations He gives you. If He did, let's face it. We'd all be in Hell. Because who can be good enough for God? I know I can't.

I problem I face often when playing this game is whether to go full-screen or keep it at the 64-bit version so I can have a lot of windows open. I can talk to my friends on Facebook and webcam Kenny and read some beauty tips and write an essay all while trying to "beat the Zuma." It makes me lose focus. Just ask Kenny. He'll try to talk to me while I'm playing, and I'll lose a life. Then I'll tell him, he'll act all innocent, and then I'll start playing again, lose a life, blame him...etc. We try and blame our failures on everyone else but ourselves. If I really wanted to win Zuma, I probably wouldn't 80 different windows open. I'd go full-screen. Are you going full-screen in your Christian life? Or are you satisfied doing the bare minimum to succeed?

Another aspect of this game is strategy. Do you shoot at the balls closer to the skull, or start at the end of the stream to avoid future problems? Do you provide for yourself in the future or are you living in the "right now?" I find myself doing both, again, based on my attitude. Sometimes I want to see all the different angles I can play that will earn me the most points in the end. And I think that's how a lot of people view their life with Christ. What are ALL the different things I can do to earn the most points with God in the end? What are all the different things I can DO? There's a problem with that. I've been saying it for the past few blogs. Someone once told me that there's no way God wants that. There's no way that He wants us to downplay His love and grace by trying to earn it. And that's very true. One of the greatest characteristics of God is His unending, lavish grace.

If you want to get the most out of life, you need to realize that yeah, what you do is important. But you need to make sure that your motives are right. Are you only playing the game only to find yourself in Hell at the end of your life? Are you just doing your quiet time to get it checked off at church to go on that trip? Are you only pretending to love God? He knows the difference. He knows we mess up and He knows when we're sincere. He knows everything. Let me leave you with what I think is the saddest verse in the Bible.

Matthew 7:21

Don't be that kid. Be the kid that does the will of the Father.