Walking with the King

My 12-year-old daughter and I were watching one of her favorite shows, "Touched By An Angel". In this episode, one of the characters was tasked with writing a story. This character loved to play chess, so it was no surprise that her story was about chess pieces, specifically a little pawn and a king.

In her story, she showed how the little pawn could not leap like knights or move anywhere on the chess board like the bishop. The pawn could only move one tiny step at a time. How many times do we look around and long to be like the grandiose knight, leaping from place to place, bounding over obstacles without a care, or like the bishops moving all over the board giving counsel to the King and Queen, or even like the rooks moving forward and back attempting to protect the kingdom. We long for someone to notice how needed we are or how much we can contribute to the furthering of the Kingdom, but instead we are relegated to one minuscule step at a time as a seemingly inconsequential pawn.

But here is the secret...if the pawn can stay by the side of the king, it can safely move, step by little step, to the other side of the board and be transformed into whatever the Master wishes. It just takes staying in the shadow of the King. Following His moves and heeding His commands.

There is another little secret to the pawn. It can never go back. It must always move forward. It doesn't matter what happened, even one move ago, it is in the past, and the little pawn must move constantly forward. So much of our lives are spent looking behind us instead of keeping our eyes focused on the goal ahead.

Father God, make me like a little pawn, weak in the eyes of others, but safe in the shadow of my King, moving constantly forward toward Your transformation.