Cluedo

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight
(Proverbs 3:5-6)

Over the Christmas holidays I played a lot of board games, including the “whodunnit” game of Cluedo! If you’ve never played this game, the idea is that you figure out who committed the crime, in which room, and using which weapon. And you do this by a process of elimination, by discovering all the people, places and weapons that couldn’t have been a part of the crime, which leaves just one correct answer.
 
I like this game because it’s logical and there is only one solution. If only life were like that! Life is complicated and often we are faced with decisions and situations where there doesn’t seem to be an obvious best course of action. This problem is not new of course, and we see in the Bible many of God’s people trying to figure out what they should do in their own complicated situations.
 
Paul the apostle had been asked by God to go and spread the news about Jesus, and in particular to the Gentiles. In Acts chapter 16 it tells us about a time when Paul was trying to work out where God wanted him to go next and he tries Asia, but the Holy Spirit stops him. Then he tries Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit won’t let them go there either. So they end up going to Troas, where Paul has a vision that he is needed in Macedonia. It’s a process of elimination where Paul tries various options before the right one works out.
 
Sometimes, like in Cluedo and just like Paul did, eliminating the wrong courses of action is helpful in getting to the right one. Perhaps we can ask questions about whether we would be acting with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience as we’re encouraged to in Colossians 3:12. Or whether we are acting out of love or fear (1 John 4:18). As the Proverb in chapter 3 (verses 5 and 6) says, trusting in God is a good place to start with following a good path, and we can trust that He is Good and Loving.
 
Whatever decisions you’re facing at the moment, may you know God leading you in His path of peace. Amen.
 
Photo by Mediamodifier on Unsplash