DO YOU NEED A MIRACLE, A BREAKTHROUGH?

What seems impossible? Is it a terrifying diagnosis? A disillusioning church experience? Are you destined for a corner office but stuck in a cubicle? Do you face infertility mountains? Addiction struggles? Friendship fiascos? A financial reversal? Divorce papers? A prodigal? A dream fizzled? A dead-end job? A mediocre marriage? A child in prison? Fired at fifty-two? Depressed at thirty-five? Single at forty? Everyone has brokenness, disappointment, and shattered dreams. Everyone needs HOPE.

Here is a story that means a lot to me: Two men were in an art museum and came upon a painting of two people playing chess. One character in the painting looked like an ordinary man; the other character looked a lot like the Devil. The ordinary man is down to his last piece on the chessboard and is scared to death. The title of the painting is “CHECKMATE.”

One of the two men looking at this painting was an international chess champion, and something about the painting intrigued him. He began to study it. He became so engrossed that the man with him grew impatient and asked him what he was doing. He said, “There’s something about this painting that bothers me, and I want to study it for a little while. You go ahead and wander around.” He studied it. His head started nodding, and his hands started moving. When his friend came back, he said, “We must locate the man who painted this picture and tell him that either he must change the picture, or he has to change the title. I have determined that there is something wrong with this painting.” His friend asked, “What’s wrong with the painting?” The chess champion said, “Well, it’s titled ‘CHECKMATE,’ but the title is wrong. The painter’s either got to change the painting or change the title, because… look at the board…look…look…. THE KING STILL HAS ONE MORE MOVE.”

A little boy named David is up against a giant named Goliath. David is in trouble. He tries to put on King Saul’s armor, but Saul’s a 52-Long and David’s a 36-Short. He cannot even handle a grown-up’s sword. It looks like CHECKMATE, but…The KING STILL HAS ONE MORE MOVE.

A man named Daniel gets thrown into a den of lions because he refuses to stop praying to his God. The lions are hungry. He is in there all night and it looks like CHECKMATE. At the first light of dawn, King Darius calls down. Daniel tells him the lions have been put on a “low protein diet” and he is fine, because…. THE KING STILL HAS ONE MORE MOVE.

A man named Moses convinces a nation of oppressed slaves to run away from the most powerful man on earth. Pharaoh sets out after them. They are standing on the shore of the Red Sea with the greatest army in the world behind them, and the people say to Moses, “What were you thinking?” And Moses says to God, “God, what were You thinking?” Is it CHECKMATE? No because THE KING STILL HAS ONE MORE MOVE.

Good Friday seemed like Bad Friday. Jesus was dead. All hope was lost. It was time to join a Dead-Messiah Support Group or find a new Messiah. It looked like CHECKMATE until Sunday when they discovered …. THE KING STILL HAS ONE MORE MOVE.

I do not know what challenge you face. Maybe there is stress at work. Maybe you are in a marriage that is falling apart or has already fallen apart. Maybe a son or daughter, somebody that you love, is struggling or estranged from you. Maybe you have financial pressures. Maybe you have done the wrong thing or said the wrong thing or made a mistake that feels so big it could never be redeemed. Whatever you face, whether it is today or tomorrow, the promise of Jesus to everyone who puts their trust in Him is this: there is HOPE, even when it feels like CHECKMATE…THE KING STILL HAS ONE MORE MOVE!!

Dr. Michael Sprague is the Louisiana State Chaplain with the Capitol Commission and President of Grace Adventures. Michael lives with his wonderful wife Donna and resides in Mandeville, LA. His motto is “Bet the Farm on God.” You can find more information about Michael here.