Game Over?

I watched a wonderful short video this morning simply titled "Checkmate." In it, the speaker tells of a group of sports champions touring an art museum. They came to one particular painting titled, "Checkmate." The painting shows the devil and a man playing chess. The devil is obviously winning, having removed most of the man's pieces. Being the devil, he has a wicked grin in his anticipation of winning not just the match, but the man's very soul. The man sits with his hand on his brow, a look of desperation on his face. The tour guide says that the painting depicts Satan's victory over the hopeless man and he takes the group onward. In the group is a world champion chess player, and he tarries, studying the work. The guide soon notices the chess master missing and goes back. He finds him gazing at the painting and wonders why. He tells him that the meaning of the painting is obvious; the devil has won. The chess master replies that it would seem so, but as he studies the painting he has noticed something. Something only a master would see. It's true that the man has lost almost all his pieces to the enemy, but there remains one that almost all observers of the painting miss. There remains to the man one piece; the King, and looking at the position of the King, says the chess master, "The King has one more move." I am no chess player, but I do understand the meaning of checkmate; "Game over." I have been in such places in my walk with the King. Places where the enemy seems to have me in checkmate. Places where it appears sure that the game is over, but appearance is not reality and it is not truth. We serve a King who always has "one more move," a King who is always in command of His position, even in the most seemingly hopeless situations. If we will hold on, if we will not "yield the board," we will witness our Lord making "one more move." The move that will put the devil to flight. The move that will defeat every one of his pieces/weapons. It's a truth that stands in the midst of every battle between the enemy and those who are His. Maybe you're in such a place today. Maybe it seems that every weapon you have has been defeated. Maybe it seems like there is nothing else you can do and no place else you can run to. Maybe you can "see," even feel the enemy laughing at you, savoring your defeat. Take heart! Your King remains on the field. Your King always has "one more move" to make in your defense. One more move to bring victory out of what seems a sure defeat. Galatians 6:9 says that in "due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart." Game over? Only for the devil. It was over for him at Calvary, at the empty tomb. The King has kept him in checkmate ever since, and in Him, so do we. Believe for His "one more move" regardless of how everything seems. He will make it, and you will see the victory that is already yours. Blessings, Pastor O