I like playing Spades. In fact, I am the best Spades player I know. My wife may disagree with me at this point, but she is wrong. Somewhere deep down, she knows it. My favorite play in Spades is when I have no clubs and she leads with her Ace of Clubs. I enjoy casually tossing my two of Spades to trump her club. I enjoy watching her try to play it off when the reality of her frustration cannot be hidden.
One of my h
eroes, Pastor Desire from Congo, has been around some recently. He came to bring Julie home. This is a little girl who has been a victim of war in east Congo. A year ago, she was in the states to receive needed specialized surgery. Her host family fell in love with her, and now she has come home to be with them forever.
After being in the states for nine months, she returned to the unsafe environment where she started, deep in the bush of Congo. It was from here that my hero, Pastor Desire, rescued her. My hero left his responsibilities of leading ten congregations, two feeding centers, and a major construction project to go locate and rescue this one little girl. He spent seven weeks trekking through countless villages and forests filled with rebel soldiers.
At the face of it, it doesn’t make sense. My question to my hero when he arrived victoriously in America with his prize was, “Why?” Why, in the face of danger, inconvenience, and at the neglect of heavier responsibility, go after the one? When I asked my “why” question his answer was simple. With some dismay at my silly question, he answered quietly, “I love Julie.”
Do you see it? Love is the trump card. Love provides the solution to many unanswerable questions. Why would God come chasing after you and me? Why pay for charter pla
nes to take the gospel to un-reached people groups in Africa? Why expend the resources it has required to create a place of rest and refuge for pastors who have suffered in difficult places in the world? Only love makes this make sense. Love is the Trump card.
The great thing about this game is that all of us who are His, find ourselves in possession of this trump card. The card can be played in a multitude of ways. I am learning it is usually played in humility. It is played in the form of forgiveness. We can play it in almost any situation because it has been played for us.

As you play it, play it with humility, but also play it with joy. This defeats our enemy. It’s a trump card. When we play it, He can’t win. His goal to steal, kill, and destroy is defeated. I have even seen him get up from the table and walk away at the point the card is played knowing that the game is over.
I think I am going to start looking for opportunities to play. May you also find many such opportunities.
One of my h

After being in the states for nine months, she returned to the unsafe environment where she started, deep in the bush of Congo. It was from here that my hero, Pastor Desire, rescued her. My hero left his responsibilities of leading ten congregations, two feeding centers, and a major construction project to go locate and rescue this one little girl. He spent seven weeks trekking through countless villages and forests filled with rebel soldiers.
At the face of it, it doesn’t make sense. My question to my hero when he arrived victoriously in America with his prize was, “Why?” Why, in the face of danger, inconvenience, and at the neglect of heavier responsibility, go after the one? When I asked my “why” question his answer was simple. With some dismay at my silly question, he answered quietly, “I love Julie.”
Do you see it? Love is the trump card. Love provides the solution to many unanswerable questions. Why would God come chasing after you and me? Why pay for charter pla
The great thing about this game is that all of us who are His, find ourselves in possession of this trump card. The card can be played in a multitude of ways. I am learning it is usually played in humility. It is played in the form of forgiveness. We can play it in almost any situation because it has been played for us.

As you play it, play it with humility, but also play it with joy. This defeats our enemy. It’s a trump card. When we play it, He can’t win. His goal to steal, kill, and destroy is defeated. I have even seen him get up from the table and walk away at the point the card is played knowing that the game is over.
I think I am going to start looking for opportunities to play. May you also find many such opportunities.
David