He Likes The Darkness

actual screenshot. yep.

I love free apps for my iPhone. There are several sites where you can get them and AppsGoneFree is one. Everyday I receive an email highlighting the new apps that you can buy for free for a limited time. Good marketing. There are games, maps, music, photos, and so on. Today I got this one. It's a game called He Likes The Darkness. Yeah. I immediately thought, this one could preach.

I'm reading the game description: "Help Paul survive by gathering all of the brightest stars in this platform game. Paul is a big fan of the darkness." Whoa. Whuh? I immediately think of Saul, the Apostle Paul before he got his new name, looking on with sinister approval at the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Thank God I'm not sinister. I immediately check my attitude. I know what happens when I get all self-righteous. The description goes on. "You're able to help him darken his world by collecting all the bright stars in each level." OK, I don't know about you, but I don't need a rocket scientist to prove to me that the quickest way to darken a room is by unplugging the light. Spiritually speaking, it's obvious what happens when our stars are "collected" from us, yes? And, "Of course, without the light of the stars it can become difficult to navigate the various platforms...," No kidding. I picture me in my bedroom walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night in the dark. Barefoot.

Job 12:25 NIV

They grope in darkness with no light; he makes them stagger like drunkards.

me stumbling in the dark inside a zombie house

Yeah. Like drunkards they walk. Anyway... I wonder how many stars has the enemy collected from my life, my heart, my soul? Just what am I now blind to that I could once see? How serious is this, Lord? What are you telling me? Is my discernment off-kilter these days? Is your voice in me a bit more muted? I remember there being a time when the idea of glazing over the rotten lyrics in a song or the bad parts in a movie, just to hear or see the good parts wouldn't have even begun to appeal to me. I didn't spend so much time overlooking the offensive. Rather, I made choices based on how it would edify and deepen my love for God and others. How far had I gone in the dark, without even knowing it? Or did I stop noticing? How much have my eyes adjusted?

More description. "… so try to gather them (stars) in the most logical order." When we consider how brilliantly deceiving the devil is, wouldn't we be ignorant to underestimate his keen ability to form strategic plans for the collection of our lights? Our truths? Our peace? Our love? Our relationships? And he always starts with the dimmer lights, doesn't he? The ones we don't notice so much. The "peripheral" lights that don't seem all that necessary. I think to myself, I'll just lower this standard a bit if it will get me a larger dose of approval on that one. Or do I even think it through? What standard would he bait you with? Do you know? What star of righteousness (right living) does he dangle in your face falsely labeling it "pride"? This made me think some more. This stupid free iPhone app made me ask questions that needed to be asked. God can use anything. 

1 Peter 5:8 NIV

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

devouring lions are not a pretty sight

And finally, "Oh, and you're timed the whole way through. Good luck!" un-huh. Indeed. It wouldn't be fun without the pressure of being timed. In this crazy, spazzed-out world we live in it's not often that we don't feel like our lives playing beat the clock, with every minute resting on the success of the last. We can forget that slowing down to check our lights is required. This is not new insight. But we get lazy. I do. I get complacent. Sometimes I care too much about fitting in to think about tuning up. But I got reminded today. And I pray "Lord, if I don't do it, if I neglect to keep my walk with You the priority, if I fail to see the dimming light, please let me stumble a bit before I just walk blindly into a wall and really do some harm."

Ephesians 5:8 NIV

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.

Oh, how He loves you and me

Jesus emphasizes how cool the light is. How necessary and life-giving it is. And how darkness leads to only to death. That's all it leads to. Lose a light here and a light there. Soon enough, darkness. I remembered today that I can never underestimate the logic and skill of the "light collector", who is only out to trip me up and cause me to love the darkness more than the light. The devil wants to tell me there is only shame in the light. How wrong he is. But he says it just the same. And he does it all for free.  FREE. Just like the silly app.

And p.s. I tried the game. gah! It's infuriating.