When I told Jerry I was thinking about writing a blog post to compare marriage to Candy Crush, I think his jaw actually fell into his lap. It’s always fun to get a reaction like that from your spouse, don’t you think? 🙂
For those of you who don’t know, Candy Crush is a game made popular by the social media site, Facebook, played on most devices. The game links up with your Facebook account so that you can, in some ways, play with your friends. It’s a puzzle game in which you advance level by level by completing the puzzle. There are seemingly endless levels, each getting more and more difficult. This game has been pretty popular among most of my friends, and I enjoy playing in my down time as a way of relaxing.
Think about this game as a metaphor for marriage. When you first start playing the game, you realize that most of your friends are there ready to cheer you on, just like your wedding! Not only that, but they are ready to give you extra help and advice as you begin this fun journey. The first few levels are pretty easy, just combining a few colored candies until you reach the goal. You’re thinking, “I got this! This is too easy!”
You can pretty much breeze your way though the first 35 levels with little to no difficulties. After you complete level 35, you suddenly find yourself at an impasse. You can’t go on to the next stage unless you some how unlock the level. In order to unlock the next 20 or so levels of Candy Crush, you must seek “tickets” from your online friends. At this moment I realize that this is so much like life and marriage! You see, God is always trying to do a work in us. He desires to take us to the next level so we can succeed in more difficult situations and “puzzles”. We learn to navigate the easy puzzles quickly, but we struggle as they get harder and harder. Eventually the task looks so daunting that we just feel like giving up.
You begin to feel this way when you have worked so hard to reach the goal, only to fail needing one more item, or just one more move to make it to the next level. Remember that Jesus said that the path was narrow and only a few would find it!
What is your “next level” in your marriage? Are you married to an unbeliever and spending your time waiting and praying for your spouse to find salvation? Are you ready to start a family or a new career but just can’t seem to make the puzzle fit together? Perhaps you are about to unlock the empty nest and retirement level? No matter what the next level, we should all seek God and enjoy the journey.
Scriptures for Meditation
You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. – Psalm 16:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. – Matthew 6:25-34 (ESV)
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