Games are fun in part because they include degrees of uncertainty, risk, and adventure. A large part of their appeal is simply in figuring out how to win. And this spirit is helpful as we seek to find our way forward in the rest of our life and relationships as well.
For instance, while certainly there are many guiding principles we can rely on, life doesn’t come with a step-by-step instructional manual. There’s not one right answer to tell us what job to take, what city to live in, who we should marry or even be friends with. We simply have to figure these things out along the way.
But while this is a mark of the freedom and maturity God has given us, fear tempts us to hold back and look for safety in the plans others might give us. We’re looking for cheat codes and life hacks – for someone to tell us the answer so we don’t have to risk failure ourselves. But this is not how life works.
Our life is always lived on the frontier – entering the unknown and facing new adventures every day. We’re pathfinders forging our way into new territories. And this means we must try many new things and fail along the way. But the only true failure is not trying at all or merely settling for the cookie-cutter approach to life.
As such, we must faithfully find our way toward meaningful work and fulfilling relationships. There are no shortcuts or quick fixes to eliminate all risk and uncertainty. And, like the games we play, life would lose much of its meaning if there were.
Of course, this doesn’t mean we must figure everything out on our own. But wise guides can only provide us with fresh perspectives and bedrock truths. They cannot do the work of faith for us.
In the end, learn to enjoy uncertainty and the challenge of figuring things out. There are no cheat codes to the game of life. And faith and maturity demand we find our way forward all the same.
Photo by Fethi Benattallah on Unsplash
