I love a game-changer.  A 3-point shot at the buzzer.  A surprise ingredient in a familiar dish.  Whether it is a person or an event game-changers are extraordinarily effective at shifting a dynamic.  They shake up a situation to produce a desired and typically, impressive result.

According to Webster, a game-changer is “a newly introduced element or factor that changes a situation or activity in a significant way.” 
I’ve met a few of those in my life. You probably have too. These events range from the unwelcome, like losing a loved one or losing a job — to the unanticipated, like finding new love or landing a new opportunity.

But life is not a game; it is a journey.  From a faith perspective, the proverbial game-changer affects the momentum of our progress in the plan of God.  It has the potential to seemingly shut us down or suddenly propel us forward.

What’s shaking things up for you?  A new opportunity or relationship?  An unexpected development or an unorthodox method?  While many factors may influence our pace in God’s plan, our inner desires determine the position of our heart.

I’m finding it takes a deeper level of reliance on the Lord to receive the momentum He provides.  This may feel uncomfortable to me at first.  Being molded into the image of Christ reveals tendencies in me that are contrary to His image.  As pride and selfishness are exposed, temptation quickly hands me a rationale to cover my weakness.  But as I yield to the Spirit’s call, a rush of humility and obedience carries me further along His path.

Scripture offers several accounts of lives turned upside down.  But it also demonstrates how God uses the turn as the potential to change something in and through those lives.  It’s easy to talk about the pleasant pivots.  They bring relief or delight.  Like the Red Sea parting for the Israelites;¹ or the promise of paradise uttered to the thief on the cross.² Such moments provided deliverance, favor, and forgiveness in the midst of a crisis.

And yet, sometimes a crisis is the game-changer. Like when Peter heard the rooster crow for the third  time;³ or the blindness experienced by Saul turned Paul. ⁴   These moments brought pain but they also brought repentance.

Pleasant and painful game-changers will surely come our way.  However, the greater challenge is in how we will respond.  That’s where living the change comes in.  Each person in these biblical examples could have chosen bitterness, doubt or fear.  But faith drew them towards something else — the grace and mercy of God.

How are you viewing your most recent game-changer?  Are you loving and living the invitation to experience God’s grace in extraordinary ways?   As we seek to seize the opportunity, here’s some good news:  the grace of God in Christ is the biggest game-changer.  If we think we’ve lost in life, through trusting Him we’ve won.

God promises to work the pleasant and painful pivots together to accomplish something good and beautiful in our lives.  It is a promise every Christ follower can cling to – no matter what.   As we receive the miracle of His momentum it brings hope to the heart and joy to the soul.

^“We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan.” – Romans 8:28 The Voice

Scriptural Reflections:

1. Exodus 13-14
2. Luke 23:26-43
3. Matthew 26:17-74
4. Acts 9:1-19