Have you ever used one of those claw machines? They hold seemingly cheap toys and flash those bright lights that either draw you in or annoy you. They always pull me in when I’m waiting in a restaurant line sitting in a state of hunger and boredom.
I swear they are rigged to test your patience and take your money.
None the less I always attempt to win when I see one.
It’s a face off of sorts like when two cowboys go toe toe in those old westerns- they keep hands on their holsters ready to draw at any moment and only one will win.
That’s how I feel when I approach a claw machine.
The funny thing is the claw machine is so much like our lives. We usually only have a few options and most of the time it doesn’t work out the way we want it to.
The first way I view the claw machine like our life is this- you put your quarter in move the joy stick around wherever you want, then at any given time without warning it just drops and lands in pile of animals you don’t desire and it draws back up empty, leaving you empty handed and smacking the machine frustrated that it cheated you. Isn’t it funny the way we react to a box of toys.
This is similar to life in that we take all the right “precautions” we do the “right” things, we pray the prayers, say the things, go where we’re called, and do our part. But sometimes in the middle of a moment life happens unexpectedly and leaves you feeling empty handed. With no explanation.
A relationship ends abruptly, the doctors diagnosis was not what you wanted to hear, you lost your job, you’re kids tell you something you’d never expect them to say, your spouse is having an affair…
First you stand dumbfounded and awestruck, then you get mad. We can’t do anything about it so we project our emotions at the thing itself.
The second way isn’t much better but still very relatable.
We stick our quarters in, move the claw to our desired location. We strategically place the joy stick over our selection of choice and grit our teeth as we drop the claw and hope for the best. It lands around your prize on all sides, closes its grip and… nothing. It again leaves you empty handed and disappointed.
We often do this when we feel as though we need to “help God out” we do the necessary things WE THINK need to be done to receive the results WE WANT to receive. Everything seems perfectly in order, you’ve done everything within your power to made something happen, then God throws a monkey wrench in your plans and it looks strikingly different then what you’d expected. God doesn’t promise to answer every prayer- especially in the time or way we’d like.
The third way I view the claw machine is like life is a little more promising. Every once in a while you’ll try your hand at the claw drop it exactly where you want and it tightly clasps your prize and drops it in the take away box leaving you feeling unstoppable- because you finally beat the old claw machine. This is a rare occasion but it happens.
Like life sometimes we pray and pray, do the right things, believe in full faith our prayers will be answered and it’s like the heavens open up when it finally happens. Life is good and nothing can break that feeling. It almost seemed effortless but regardless here you stand with the prize in your hand. #winning
I’ve noticed life more often then not to go like the first two options. Obviously if I were God that would not be the way of it… but he does a better job than me.
For the past few years of my life I haven’t exactly beaten the old claw machine. Things haven’t always worked out the way I’ve wanted them too and sometimes I’m even left empty handed- but that’s okay. Because God is STILL good, and he is STILL working things out for my good and his glory- even if it goes differently than I planned.
Sometimes the unexpected happens leaving me paralyzed with questions of why did that happen?
Sometimes I feel like I have the thing right in the palm of my hands and just like that it’s snatched.
And sometimes it feels like I won the lottery and I get exactly what I asked for.
But in all these situations I recognize God is still there. God is still God. And God is still good-that is all I can do.
Life has in no way shape or form unfolded for me the way I planned. I thought by 27 I’d be married, 2 kids, 2 car garage, white picket fence, owning a boat, making 80,000 a year and I would be doing just fine.
Here I am 27 barely scraping the barrel, no boyfriend, nothing to my name but a few boxes of clothes and a loan to pay off- and strangely enough that is okay.
Because I know God is doing this FOR me. Not TO me. When you face the claw machine of life, which ever hand your dealt- If you can shift your focus to seeing God in the midst of it regardless of the outcome I think you’ll find life to be a little less stressful- that God actually is working everything together on your behalf, even if it looks differently than you’d expect.
