When a nineteenth century chess grand master saw a painting called Checkmate, depicting a game of chess between a man and the devil, he was intrigued. It appeared that the game was indeed over and the devil had won – but the chess master could see that there was actually another move possible that would turn things round and enable the other player to win the game.

We are all familiar with how the unfair trial of Jesus and His subsequent death sentence put an apparent end to His ministry. How the enemy must have rubbed his hands at the thought that he had checkmated Him and delivered a fatal blow.

But praise God that the enemy’s claims of ‘checkmate’ were premature! The King of Kings still had the most powerful move of all to make: He raised Jesus from the dead, swept away every last counter belonging to death, and ushered in His own eternally victorious Kingdom!

But how about the occasions when we feel surrounded by impossibilities and in serious danger of being ‘checkmated’? The enemy is always looking to land a knockout blow. May we call to mind at such times that the King of Kings is always ahead of the game and always has one more move to make!

Even though you yourself may not be feeling desperate right now, it is highly likely that you know someone who is, and who stands in great need of one the Lord’s ‘master moves.’ Let at least one such come to mind, and allow the truth of who wins to fuel your prayers.

Praise You, Lord, that You are never taken by surprise or outmanoeuvred. Thank You that You can always pick us up and rescue us one more time than we can fail or fall – and that You can lead us on from whatever situation we find ourselves in, as we look to You and put our trust in You.

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Along these lines, we thought you might enjoy Edgar Albert Guest’s poem, Some people say it couldn’t be done.

Photo by srinivas bandari on Unsplash

Photo by Warren Umoh on Unsplash