Playing Chicken with God

October 5, 2008, 8:30 pm; posted by
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I don\’t know how if this is true today, but when I was younger, we played “chicken” a lot. Two people would hurtle toward each other on bikes (or cars) to see who would swerve at the last second to avoid the crash. I played the bike version — and another type, where two of us pushed our forearms together and dropped a lit cigarette between them, to see who pulled away first.

I\’m 47 now, and when I play chicken these days, I play with God. I never start the game; He does. And to be honest with you, I hate to play — it’s nerve-wracking.

It always starts the same way. I have bills due, and I am either owed a commission or I have a large sale that I can close. But then the deal or the check, whatever it is I need, gets hung up somehow, but I find I can still do something shady to get my money. Maybe it’s telling a white lie, maybe it’s fudging — or forging — some paperwork. Either way I get the money now instead of next week.

No one gets hurt; I get my money; I lose my soul.

I\’d like to say I’ve never given in to the temptation, but at times I have. A few years ago, God started to deal with me about it when a young girl confronted me about some paperwork that had to be undone because I had lied. I was horrified, I apologized, and I repented. She was a backslidden Christian who eventually came back to the Lord and even credited the way I handled the situation for helping to turn her around. Yeah, what a great guy I am.

We’re playing chicken again this week, God and me. My boss offered to give me a commission check today if I would agree that he should forge a document we could correct on Monday. Seeing the consternation on my face, he said, “We could do it another way if it would make you feel more comfortable.”

I said, “No. I\’m not comfortable with any of this. I don\’t want anything to do with any of it,” and walked away.

So come on, God, do your best! You could have provided this on time, but instead You chose to get in your car and head right toward me, to see if I’ll swerve off the road into sin. I\’ve been here before, though, and like David said: “Let me fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.” I\’ll take my chances in a head-on crash with God, rather than swerving off the path of righteousness.

P.S. — My boss just came in and told me he had decided to wait and do things right on Monday.

P.P.S. — He called me in and paid me anyway. I win again! Praise God!


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