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Cross Words: Spiritual Solitaire
Sometimes a Bible verse comes alive and a spiritual truth becomes clearer through a seemingly random event. This very thing happened to me recently by way of a simple game of solitaire.
I play solitaire, as most people do now, on either the computer or a hand held electronic device.  The beauty of these instruments is that they take shuffling and dealing cards out of the equation.  Better yet, if you don’t like the hand you’ve been dealt, simply hit the redeal key and you get a fresh set of cards within seconds.  Not enough aces, kings, or cards that will play immediately? A finger stroke gives you a whole new realm of possibilities.
The other day I reset my hand 5 consecutive times. The cards I had been dealt, I knew, would get me nowhere. After receiving what appeared to be another bad hand, I decided to play what I had.  The result? You guessed it.  I won.
Within the Christian community we often make the mistake of dismissing people and circumstances because they appear to be to simple or lacking in potential.  We become drawn to and dependent upon the ‘face cards’ of the faith.  We pray for the world renown evangelist to come into town, knowing that he or she will be the one to reach the lost in our community.  We become enchanted with a sports star or a celebrity who suddenly has a testimony to give, certain that God will use them to give credence to our faith.
God, I have noticed, most often uses what most of us would discard. A group of castoffs was selected by Jesus to take His message to the world. David, the smallest and youngest of all his brothers, was pencilled in by God to be the king over Israel.  A teenage girl was chosen to bring birth to the Savior.
“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are....” (1 Cor. 1:27-28).
Sometimes, as I discovered the other day, a four of clubs can set the whole deck free.

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