Distress

Back in the 80’s, arcades still had a few pinball machines. I remember watching skilled players who could keep those little steel balls in play—manipulating the flippers artfully—racking up points the longer they kept that ball bouncing around. Often the players would tilt and nudge the whole machine to keep their balls from falling into the drain.

Sometimes, I wonder if the devil is playing pinball with my soul!

"You let distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss." (2 Corinthians 7:8-9 MSG)

Distress distracts me. It doesn’t bring me directly to God. I just bounce around like a pinball, careening wildly, randomly hitting all sorts of obstacles. I feel like I am being played, manipulated—providing hours of entertainment for the devil. Eventually, each distressing situation brings me to God, but I feel battered and bruised the longer I am bounced around. I feel as powerless as the pinball—I can’t seem to determine my own trajectory.

Now, I am not a pinball wizard. So I read up on the mechanics of this game. There are ways to adjust the playing field. A flat surface makes the game too easy. So, increasing the tilt decreases a player’s advantage.

When the plunger of distress strikes me—I spend way too much time wandering agitatedly. The more neutral and worldly I am, the more distracted I become. If I could tilt my life acutely towards God, then I could avoid some of this battering. I could roll quickly into the place of peace, instead of being bounced around like a pinball. Every instance of distress would project me quickly to God, instead of driving me away from Him.