NOT A ZERO-SUM GAME

Have you ever heard the expression, “a zero-sum game?”  In economic theory, it says, “as one gains, another loses the same amount.”  As an example, if you have a whole pie and someone takes a piece of it, you lose the same amount of pie that the other person gained.  The amount you lost added to the amount the other person gained will equal the whole, so one person cannot gain without the other person losing.  It is a win-lose situation.

As a mom with two boys only 17 months apart, I had a full time job trying to make sure things were equal and one didn’t get more candy, gifts, attention, etc. than the other.  I did not want their life to feel like a “zero-sum game.”  I finally realized that there were times when one had a greater need than the other and fulfilling that need at the necessary time did not take away from the one who had no pressing needs.  If one came in with a bloody nose, I didn’t grab a wet cloth for both to staunch the bleeding, so that the uninjured child wouldn’t feel neglected.  No, I tended to the injured child until the bleeding was stopped and he was ready to play again.  How useless it would have been for me to have blessed my children with identical gifts, as they grew. They had different needs, abilities, interests and levels of maturity and it was reflected in my blessings to them.  

God blesses His children as they have need and according to their abilities and level of maturity, yet sometime we get the attitude that God is playing a “Zero-Sum Game.”  Materially, why would God bless me with a different car when I have a brand new car sitting in the garage?  Yet, there are times when we find it hard to rejoice with a brother or sister when they receive a material blessing that is better or newer the thing we own.  For years, I looked with longing as people seemed to be blessed spiritually and I was, seemingly, “left behind.”  It seemed that ministry, especially, was a “zero-sum game.”  Every time a brother or sister was used in ministry, was promoted to a position or asked to fulfill a need that I had dreamed of, I assumed my chances had diminished. Passed over time after time, I fretted and fussed, convincing myself that soon there would be nothing of value left for me to accomplish.  Finally, God allowed me to experience one of the coveted “blessings.”  I fell flat on my face and I received an eye-opening revelation; YOUR BLESSINGS DO NOT DIMINISH GOD’S BLESSINGS FOR ME.

As the years have passed and I have matured, I have learned to be content.  The desire to be used in God’s service has not waned but I have learned to be content with allowing God to work through me as HE WILLS.  I can rejoice as I take a ride in a friend’s shiny new car because God is good, not just to me but to all who trust Him. When a sister is asked to speak at a meeting, I listen with enthusiasm, realizing that I was not “passed over” but needed to hear from God through this sister.  I follow my life from the beginning until this very moment and I realize that if the blessings of God turned out to be some “Cosmic Zero-Sum Game,” I would be declared the winner!!!  I have been blessed throughout my life with all that I could handle and more than I deserved.  There is even times that the Creator of the Universe; the Savior of the World actually allows me to reach out and bless another precious brother or sister.  Can it get any better?  I think I have received the BIGGEST PIECE OF THE PIE in this game called Life.