There’s a very popular game by the name of “Angry Birds.” I must confess that I am addicted. At first glance, it is mindless fun. However, when you begin getting into the deeper levels you see that this is a game of strategy. I will do my best to describe the game to those of you who are not familiar with it. Basically, you have a structure with little green figures sitting on top of it. The object of the game is to make sure that you destroy all of the little green figures. The ammunition that you have at your disposal is a sling shot and various types of birds. You must sling the birds into the structure in order to destroy the little figures. The only way to progress to the next level is to kill all the little figures.
Now, that you kind of have the gist of the game, let me explain to you its relevance in our spiritual walk. When I started the game, it was relatively easy to move through the levels. As I started to get to the higher levels, I found it was becoming more complicated. The main reasons for the complication were the structures. In the earlier levels, the structures had been pretty open and gave a straight shot to your opponent. However, the higher levels came with structures that made it difficult for you to get to your opponent. On top of all that, they seemed to be adding more opponents. The little green foes started to outnumber the number of birds that I had. And, I began to get extremely frustrated because I couldn’t seem to figure out how in the world to get to my foe.
I hadn’t bothered to read the instructions to the game. I simply began playing it. If I would have read the instructions, I probably would have found that some of my birds were equipped to do more than fly. There was an instance where I launched a bird and touched my screen afterwards on accident. To my surprise, the bird got a little turbo action going and it propelled it further and faster. So, I tried it again with another type of bird. But, this time the bird divided into three smaller birds. I was completely shocked that my ammo could do all of this cool stuff. I had been wasting my time and frustration on levels because I had not taken the time to figure out the capabilities of what I had at my disposal.
As I progressed further, I knew how to use my weapons but the structures grew more and more complex. I tried to fix some things about how I was playing the game in order to beat the levels. I’d seen my nephew play it the day before and noticed that he’d adjusted the screen so he could see his weapon and his foe at the same time. I had been checking my foe and then sliding over to my weapon and using it based on what I remembered about my foe. So, I adjusted my screen in order to see everything. I started to aim for the little green enemies with my ammo but the structure posed a major problem. After a couple of failed attempts, I figured out how to beat the level. I had been focused on the little foes but if I destroyed the structure then the foes would be dead too. So, I began to aim for weak spots in the structure. As the structure began to crumble, the foes would die too. It took time and strategy but I began to maneuver through the levels with this new objective.
So, let me bring it home for you all on a spiritual level. We are fighting things but we do not seem to get the victory. The reason is we have focused so much on the individual foes but we have forgone the thing that is keeping them safe. There’s a couple of things that I want to pull out from my experience. The first thing that we must do in order to be successful is study to show ourselves approved (2 Tim 2:15). There is no purpose in having a weapon and you don’t know all of its capabilities. Time in our word and time in prayer will help us better understand the things that the Lord has equipped us with. Secondly, put things into perspective. Adjust the way that you see things so that you can see the whole picture. It helps when you are able to look at what you are fighting. Most importantly, don’t get so caught up and frustrated with the little things that you miss the point of the fight. There are so many times that we are rendered defeated because we have focused on a portion of the issue but not attacked the whole thing. When you deal with poverty, you can’t spend your time just praying for money. You may get a job and a nice paycheck. However, there is still another foe that is undestroyed and lurking. The way that you avoid this is by eradicating the structure of poverty. What is the structure of a thing? It is the way that it thinks. So, you destroy the mindset of poverty. You destroy the mindset of lack. And, once you do this the little foe of unemployment will be obliterated with the structure of poverty.
If you want to move to the next level of your life, you must learn to destroy the structure of the thing you are dealing with. When David went out to fight Goliath, he didn’t need Saul’s armor. David took five smooth stones which are a representation of grace. Furthermore, it is representative of Christ who is the solid rock. He aimed one at Goliath’s head which symbolized his mind, his thoughts, and his structure. Once David was able to destroy the structure, he was able to defeat the Philistines. If you destroy the thought pattern of what you are fighting, you will destroy the small foe that you are worried about. Stay on the Path.
