The King Has Another Move!

This is a story sent to me from some dear Disney friends. Thankful The King has another move for my life!

The King Has Another Move!

This story has been told by Christian speakers as far back as 1955when Billy Graham told a variation of it early in his ministry.

Two men are standing in front of a painting called Checkmate in an artgallery. In the painting, a man is playing chess with the devil. Thedevil is grinning ear-to-ear because he has the man cornered. The titleof the painting, Checkmate, indicates that the game is over. The devilhas won. His opponent has no more moves.

The first man looking at the painting wants to move on to otherpaintings in the gallery. But the second man, an international chesschampion, wants to look at the painting longer, so he waves his friendon and tells him he will catch up later. The chess champion stares andstares at the chess board, then suddenly he steps back, flabbergasted."It's wrong!" he exclaims. "The re's one more move." He runs to hisfriend and together they look at the painting. "We have to contact thepainter," the chess champion says. "It's not checkmate. The king has onemore move."

When you look at Scripture, you will see that all through history, thedevil has had God's people in what seemed like "checkmate." But God hadanother move.

In Exodus 14, with the Egyptians relentlessly chasing them, theIsraelites, finally released to journey to the Promised Land, came tothe shores of the Red Sea. They could see the dust from approachingEgyptian chariots on the horizon and hear the war cries of theirpursuers. They had nowhere to turn. Their families would be killed;their possessions would be taken. Checkmate, right?

The King had another move. God says to Moses, "Why are you crying outto me? Tell the people to get moving! Pick up your staff and raise yourhand over the sea. Divide the water so the Israelites can walk throughthe middle of the sea on dry ground" (Exodus 14:15-16). We know the restof the story. The Israelites get to the other side; the Egyptians drownwhen God closes the water alley.

In 1 Samuel 17, the Israelites and their leader, Saul, were terrified.The nine-foot-tall Philistine giant, Goliath, was taunting them andmaking fun of their God. The Israelites were in checkmate.

But the King had one more move. An insignificant little boy too smallto fit into Saul's armor knocked off Goliath and delivered theIsraelites. David, who knew a thing or two about being in checkmate,shows his deep faith when he says, "The Lord who rescued me from theclaws of the lion and the bear with will rescue me from thisPhilistine!" (1 Samuel 17:37).

In Daniel 6:1-28, King Darius threw Daniel into a lions' den becauseDaniel ignored t he new law to pray to King Darius and instead prayed toGod. In imagery reminiscent of the tomb of Jesus, a stone was rolledover the mouth of the lions' den and Daniel was left to be torn apart.You can't get much more "checkmate" than that situation!

But the King had another move. He sends an angel to close the lions'mouths. When King Darius finds Daniel safe, he says: "I decree thateveryone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the Godof Daniel. For he is the living God and he will endure forever. Hiskingdom will never be destroyed, and his rule will never end" (Daniel7:26).

Perhaps you feel like you are in checkmate in your life. You are indebt. You've lost your job. Your marriage is in trouble. Someone youlove is dying. You have an addiction that is eating you with shame.

Whatever your situation, you have to remember that God always hasanother move in your life. He can get you out of whatever you're in. Heraised his own Son from death! Pray to Him. His love for you isunconditional, and he never turns his back on you. You have another move.

Even if your pain keeps you from finding the words to pray, the HolySpirit will pray for you. Paul says in Romans 8:26: "And the Holy Spirithelps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants usto pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings thatcannot be expressed in words."

When it seems as if you can't move to the next square on the calendar,remember, the King always has another move!