Happy New Year to everyone who reads this post! God bless you, and I pray that His grace and favor overflows into your life in His mighty name. I have been behind with posting this column, but now that winter break is over, the website has gone through its administrative changes and other details I’m ready to go back to posting bi-weekly on this column that is close to my heart. You may even see some other writers pop in now and then to give their own perspective on Gaming With God, and if you have a game, character or idea you would like to see covered please leave me a comment or shoot us an email.
One of my favorite game series of all time has been the Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross series. Even though many argue that Cross was not an adequate sequel, as I once thought myself, after playing through it and really diving into the plot (especially when you are in Chronopolis and you discover the archives) you find out that it truly did conclude the entire series. There are still some plot holes that were never wrapped up (what happened to Janus?!), but there’s a lot we can glean from this beautiful work of art titled Chrono Cross.
To give you a quick summary of the game, you play as a boy named Serge who is caught in the middle of two worlds, Home World and Another World. In Home World, you are alive and happily living life, but when you end up traveling accidentally to Another World you find out that you are dead! You even visit your own gravesite to put the icing on the cake.
How did this happen? Well, events that occurred before Serge was even born were put into motion so he could be used by FATE (a sinister AI bent on controlling humanity’s every decision and will). Serge became a key, basically, to activate a special project that this AI lost access to. Since he was dead in one world, that door remained closed until he arrived at this new world. Once FATE found out that he reappeared, it decided to try again with its original plan.
What I find interesting about this whole scenario is how important one’s actions are in life, and how they impact others regardless if we want them to or not. Serge’s life is vital because as he traverses through the game and interacts with people from both worlds, what you do in one world changes the other. Isn’t life the same? Whenever we make decisions, big or small, other lives are touched by them in good ways or bad ways. Maybe you decided to work a little more to give some money to your family, or you went to school to have a better career for yourself. What we do with our lives will leave ripples on the Earth and eternity, whether we want to or not.
How do we know what is the right decision to make though?
Isaiah 30:21
21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
Proverbs 16:9
9 In their hearts humans plan their course,
but the Lord establishes their steps.
It’s funny how we always feel we are making the right choice, but God has a better plan. Even when others like parents or loved ones who make decisions for us aren’t in our best interests, He makes the crooked paths straight. Serge’s whole life was almost planned and he didn’t have the slightest idea that he was being used by FATE. Even when you “think” you’ve figured out what’s going on, another twist is given and you’re back in the dark not knowing what’s going to happen next, left to defend yourself.
As you live this journey called life, know that every day there are decisions that you have to make. Most of the time, you won’t be sure which path to take, but going to God for the answer will give you peace. He knows the way, because He is truth and truth sets us free. In that freedom we find prosperity to bless others, wisdom to make the hard choices and navigation in the trenches.
Don’t go through life alone. Sometimes it can seem that no matter what we do, life turns out in ways we didn’t expect, yet we can find solace that in the end His ways and thoughts are greater than ours even if we don’t understand.
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