The screen above is a loading screen from the Resident Evil series of games. The door would slowly open as the next area of the game loaded, and simple as it was, it helped add some suspense to the wait, since it's a series where you never know what is waiting on the other side of the door. If you're familiar with modern gaming at all then you're familiar with loading screens. The wait for the next part of a game to load is a necessary evil in the age of disk-based games, but what does that have to do with waiting on God?
The parallel starts with the feeling of expectation of what's next. In games, as in life, there are moments when the next chapter seems just beyond the horizon, so close that we can't wait to reach it. Fortunately for gamers, all that's required is to wait for the disk to finish spinning and the game to load. Reality however, is different. There is no progress bar to tell you when you're at 100% and can proceed. Sometimes we aren't ready and are overwhelmed by the next stage of life. Other times we are so tired of waiting for that door to open that we barely appreciate it when it does. Maybe looking at how some games tackle the wait of loading screens can give us some insight on what we can do when we're waiting for God to move.
View Your Achievements (Dirt 2)
Developer Codemasters found a unique way of filling in the load times for the rally racing game Dirt 2. As you can see in the video below, you can view your progress and achievements while waiting for the race to load. It's a good way to give you a snapshot of some of your in-game accomplishments, and influence what you do in the race that's loading.
In life, we tend to constantly be straining our eyes to the horizon, stretching out toward that next thing we think we need to have or do. The only time we look back is to wonder what went wrong when things didn't go our way. When God seems to be saying "wait," we should use that time to take stock of how he's provided for us in the past. I guarantee the examples are there if you look.
Job 5:24 24 You will know that your home is safe. When you survey your possessions, nothing will be missing.
Job's friend has a point, even though his idea of how God works wasn't quite right. He thought that right living led to easy living. Do good and you get good things. While it's true that we can often rely on God for physical provision, the true guarantees we can have by waiting for and following God's direction are spiritual securities like peace, hope, and the assurance of salvation. When you look back at what you've already accomplished, along with everything else you will see that you've made it through, and God was certainly not missing.
Jeremiah 29:11 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
This is one of my favorite verses, and a much better interpretation of what Job's friend was trying to say. If you've been living within the will of God, you can look back and see you've been provided for, at least spiritually if not always physically. That history can reassure us that we can continue to rely on this promise. God was there before, and wants us to prosper, so we can trust his timing now.
Philippians 3:7-8 7I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ
A lot of people don't realize that Paul was a very successful man when he still called himself Saul. He was respected, had a successful business, and a hobby he enjoyed of persecuting these silly Christians. All that changed after an encounter with Jesus. After committing to following Christ, all of his accomplishments were worthless compared to being able to live for God. How easy it would be to wait on the Lord if we were able to see any other options for the trivial things they really are. In Dirt 2, all those achievements are wonderful memories, but they only serve to point out you are looking forward to the race ahead.
Prepare (Bayonetta)
Proverbs 13:4 ESV The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
Bayonetta is a violence heavy action game with fast paced, over-the-top action sequences. Developer Platinum Games and Sega came up with an interesting way to keep players interested during loading times. While loading the next scene, you can still move your character around and practice the games many moves and combos. It's a great way to make better use of the time than just waiting. It lets you prepare for the next area. Of course, you could just let the controller sit until the loading is done, but that would be wasting a chance to improve your skill at the game. We have the same option when waiting for God to move in our lives.
2 Peter 1:10(ESV) 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.
What qualities are we to be practicing? Earlier in this chapter they are listed as goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God, concern for others, and love. A nice list of qualities, and not restricted to any type of activities or events. These are internal traits that can be practiced no matter what our situation is. If we don't practice patience, for example, during the little day to day moments, how can we expect to have it during the big moments we're petitioning God about? It's like waiting until the boss in a game to try out a brand new combo or tactic. We need to make sure that we are ready for when God decides to move.
Take Inventory (The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim)
As anyone who has played it can tell you, Skyrim is a big game, full of lots of stuff and lots to do. Bethesda has crammed the world of Skyrim full of not just the usual weapons and armor found in RPGs, but also with crafting items, ingredients for potions, food items for cooking, and even dishes and utensils. With so much stuff to collect, it's important to sort through what you have from time to time. When you go to take on that dungeon, or are about to tackle another dragon, it's a good idea to know what you need and what you already have available. You might be seeing where I'm going to go with this.
Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
We have a spiritual inventory that's far more important than the wheels of cheese and blue mountain flowers of Skyrim. The most important item in that inventory is our relationship with Christ. That relationship has a direct impact on the other things we carry with us spiritually as well as impacting what we have physically. I'm not suggesting a gospel of prosperity here. There are Christians in physical poverty and atheists with plenty of earthly riches. The effect our relationship with God has is on our attitude towards what is around us. In Christian circles it's called stewardship.
2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence
You see, everything we have, down to our very breath, comes from God, and he cares enough to let us choose how to use what he's given. The best choice is to basically give it right back so he can use our resources through us. Usually that involves loving our neighbors. I'll give you a bit of a hint here. Jesus called everyone our neighbor. Yes, even that guy. According to the verse above we have access to everything we need through God. Perhaps when we are waiting for that next step, we should take stock of what we've already been blessed with, and ask ourselves if we are using what he have to glorify God or glorify ourselves.
Exodus 4:2-5 2Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. 3The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5"This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
Moses tried to come up with excuses why he couldn't do what God wanted. God's answer was to ask him what he already had. God was able to use a stick to help Moses show the Egyptians who he was representing. If we take the time to look at what we have, and prayerfully give it up to God to use, we might find out we've already got what we need to do what we've been waiting for. It's oftentimes not really us waiting on God, but God waiting on us to stop focusing on excuses.
Self-reflection (Heavy Rain)
Quantic Dream was very proud of the faces in their detective adventure game Heavy Rain. They were so proud that their loading screens were always a close up of the character you would be controlling in the next section. The details and animation on their faces were certainly impressive, and considering how tense some of the scenes are, they are a good chance to compose yourself for what's coming. From a role playing perspective though, you were looking at yourself. This summarizes the last point of the post. We've essentially looked at 3 things; what we've done, what we can do, and what we have. Lastly I suggest looking at who we are.
Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
Even David, "a man after God's own heart" had to do some soul searching once in a while. He would basically invite God to take a walk through his soul and clear out what He didn't like. What do you imagine God would find if you fully opened up to Him? What does he look for to clean up when we take a real look at ourselves?
2 Timothy 3:2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy
A big misconception about Christians is that you need to be perfect to become one. The truth is that being a Christian starts with telling God that you are so far from perfect that you can't even hope to see it without His help. Then the salvation Jesus paid for with his life comes down and Jesus starts to clean things out and fix up the mess that we are without Him. It's not automatic though. We need to open who we are up to God to change how He wants. People tend to be like kids that were playing outside and having fun with all the dirt. Then when it's time for dinner we don't want to wash up. We meekly show our clean hand and hope that's good enough to be allowed to the table, all the while holding the other, still dirty one behind our backs.
If we really want to hear that dinner bell and get called to whatever it is God has planned, we need to look at what parts of our life we are still holding back. If you find something you are trying to keep for yourself, offer it up to God in prayer. Thanks for reading, and we are all able to start more actively waiting when it feels like God is just taking too long.
I'd like to list Ridge Racer as an honorable mention. The loading screen was actually a playable Galaga, which was an awesome idea, but just didn't quite fit what I was attempting to do.
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