I'm not really much of a chess player, but every opportunity I get to try I give the chess application in my MacBook a shot. Of course, I usually play in easy mode, but even then the computer usually finds a way to get me into a deadly checkmate.
It doesn't feel good to be stuck in a checkmate, and that's probably why I don't like chess. Maybe you feel the same way about being stuck. We hate being stuck in line, in traffic, in a relationship, in your career or even in your spiritual growth. We were meant to be creatures that move and feeling stuck is not something we are very fond of.
I love the promise God gives in Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
God wants to give you a straight path, not a looped one or one with a dead end. And most times it starts with allowing God to change your mindset.
Here are some small mindset adjustments you can make today that will get you unstuck and moving once more in the straight paths of God.
"I may be limited, but God is not."
Psalm 73:26 says, "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
Because we are limited beings, we can and will get stuck by our own doing but our limits only define us when we allow them to. However, when we take the boldness to step out and move according to God's capabilities instead of ours, we will find ourselves doing things we never thought we could.
Whether it's with simple things such as breaking a bad habit or big challenges such as coming out of deep financial debt, God will move if we allow Him to move in the way He would.
"God's grace is not an excuse to be complacent, but power to charge on."
The biggest misconception about God's grace is that it's a free vacation to the Bahamas where we get to sip out of coconuts on a tanning bed for the rest of our lives. Well, in some way it's that, but it's also the energy to charge back into the field - into our marriages, our jobs, our ministries - with the empowering of the Holy Spirit.
Titus 2:11-12 says, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age."
God's grace is just as much as an energizer as it is a rest-giver.
"My identity is found in Jesus' victory, not mine."
Ultimately, the hope we have is based on the biggest victory we will ever know - our victory over sin and death through the finished work of Christ on the cross. Because we know Jesus has conquered even the sting of eternal punishment, how much more will He be able to deliver us out of our momentary afflictions?
Jesus is able to do anything and everything and when we put our faith in Him instead of ourselves, we set ourselves up for God's amazing plans that are much bigger than our own.
