Faithful Until Forsaken

Finding God in the world of video games

OhDestiny2…wheretobegin? At one point this disc rarely left my console as I spent my limited gaming hours committed to knocking out all of the weekly challenges, maxing out my light level, and upgrading my favorite weapons and armor sets. But afterspending countless hours fighting, grinding, upgrading, and simply investing into this game I had reached an inconvenient truth. This admission is as painful and honest as I can make it… I simply didn’t want to play it anymore. And there is a simple reason why that has nothing to do with the repetitive nature of the game or the limited gameplay modes. ButbeforeIgetthereI must insert a SPOILER ALERT for the three people that did not know about this development… It might sound silly, but in all seriousness Destiny 2 carried me through some dark and challenging times in my personal life. And my favorite part of the game was the constant shenanigans of the always hilarious Hunter Cayde-6. While I can appreciateasimplistic,funand shallow game as much as anyone,the mainreasonIplay games is to experience the stories and characters that they bring to life. And when Bungiemadethedecisionin

No matter what, God is still stretching out his hand. the Destiny 2: Forsaken expansion to permanently kill off Cayde-6, my favorite character in the franchise, the door began to close on my interest in the continuing adventures of the remaining guardians. Your mileage may vary here, but for me he was the most interesting and entertaining thread in the tapestry that makes up the Destiny universe. His irreverent brand of humor combined with his reckless bravery to take on the most insurmountable odds came to an incredibly abrupt and brutalend,andfromthatpoint forward my disengagement withDestiny2began.Iplowed through the storyline of Destiny 2: Forsaken hoping that there may be some magical “MacGuffin”thatcould bring him back, but it was all tonoavail. Hisstorywasover, his voice permanently silenced,andall thatremained was a universe had lost much ofitsluster. Muchlikethetitle of the expansion, I felt it was I who had been “Forsaken” by Destiny. Aweekofnotplaying went by, which turned into a month, and then an entire seasonofcontentwasskipped. Thisgame that had been there for me when I needed a diversionnowrepresented only disappointment. As a logical gamer I understoodthe need to push the narrative forward into a new direction, but as an emotional human being I felt betrayed, and yes, as corny as it sounds, “forsaken” byDestiny. Cayde’s fateful last stand broke all of the love and goodwill that I had for this game that had once been my sole source of comfort. And I have never lookedback.

Can we be forsaken by destiny?

He loves us and will never forsake us or leave us.

Iwasn’tjustsadathisdeathor even mad that he was taken away… I was HURT. Hurt that something I had trusted to providemesolaceandsecurity hadforsakenmeafterIhad

been SO very faithful for SO very long. And the sad truth is that manypeopleatvariouspointsintheirlifereachedthisexactsame conclusion about our Heavenly Father. It is easy to follow Him when the skies are blue and the waters are calm, but when we find ourselves run aground in the shipwrecks of life we can feel forsakenbyourCreatorveryquickly. HowcantheGodthatholds me safely in the palm of His hand allow such catastrophic events to take place? And how am I supposed to react when He both “givesandtakesaway”(Job1:21)? Oneofthemightiestprophets of God in the Bible reached this exact same place, and I believe that somewhere within his journey from forsaken to faithful we willfindtheanswers.

● TheprophetElijahoccupiesaspecialplaceintheBible’sHallof

Fame (if there was one). He boldly challenged kings (1 Kings 21),calledfiredownfromheaven(1Kings18),andhisprayers both raisedthe deadandcontrolled the weather (1 Kings 17).

Butin1Kings19wedo notfindthispowerful prophet calling onGod for miraculous displays ofpower… no,instead we find him running away as fast as he can mere days after his most incredibledisplayofGod’sfavoryet.

● 1 Kings 19:1-4 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword.

Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the godsdotome,and morealso,ifIdonot makeyourlife asthe lifeofoneofthembytomorrowaboutthistime. ”Andwhenhe sawthat,hearoseand ran forhis life,andwent toBeersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came andsatdownunderabroomtree.Andheprayedthathemight die,andsaid,“Itisenough!Now,Lord,takemylife,forIamno betterthanmyfathers!” ● Elijah had LITERALLY just called fire down from heaven, defeated and put to death 450 evil prophets of the idol Baal, andphysicallyoutruntheking’schariottothecity. Iwouldcall that a pretty good day, all things considered. But once a contract from the queen was placed on his life things went in a downward spiral VERY quickly. Just as quickly as Elijah had arrived to celebrate the incredible victory that the Lord had accomplished,hewasonhiswayrightbackoutoftown. Heeven droppedoffhisservantsohecouldfacehisfinaldaysofinsecurity in complete isolation. So often this is Satan’s way in our lives… snatchingdefeatfromthejawsofcertainvictorybyengagingusin battle immediately after we have just achieved our greatest accomplishment. ThiswashowheknockedthepeopleofIsraeloff course immediately after they escaped Egypt back in the book of Exodus(Exodus17),andheisdoingittoElijahhere.

covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with thesword.Ialoneamleft;andtheyseektotakemylife.”Thenthe Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus;andwhenyouarrive,anointHazaelaskingoverSyria. Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. AndElishathesonofShaphatofAbelMeholahyoushallanointas prophetinyourplace.Itshallbethatwhoeverescapesthesword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has notkissedhim. ”

Let’s unpack that for a minute. God did not yell at Elijah, shame Elijah, or blame Elijah (even though many of us are veryquick to dosowhensomeonearoundusfallsintoacrisisoffaith). Instead, theLordjumpsrightintoreassuringElijahthatthefactheisSTILL HEREmeanstheLordisnotthroughwithhimyet. HeputsElijah right back on the path of changing the entire landscape of the worldaroundhim,startingwiththeanointingoftwonewkingsas well as preparing his eventual successor, Elisha. And just to remind Elijah that he was NEVER actually alone, the Lord also reveals that there are still SEVEN THOUSAND people remaining onhisside.

TohiscreditElijahgetsrightbacktowork,withthiscrisisoffaith fully in his rear view mirror. As both Elijah during his mountain caveexperienceaswellasJesusChristonHiscrossbothsaw,their storieswereFARfromover. Evenwhenitseemedfromahuman

perspectivethatthefinalsentencesintheirlifestorieswerebeing written by those who had their demise in mind, the Father is the Onewhocallsushome. Andsimilarly, eveninthedarktimes we face, it is important to remember that our continued existence is the very proof that the final sentence in our story has yet to be written. The final appearance of both Elijah and Jesus Christ on Earth was their victorious ascension to heaven, not on their enemies’termsbutontheLord’s.

● Ifyouarereadingthisarticlethenitstandstoreasonthatyou are probably still here on this planet Earth. And that means you still have a purpose to accomplish and work left to do.

Moreimportantly,the stories ofothers are waiting for YOUto intersectwiththemtolaunchthenextstepinTHEIRjourneys.

Elisha,Hazael,andJehuwerewaitingonElijahtoshowupand press the “Start Game” button on each of their destinies. We justhavetochoosetomovepastthefeelingof beingforsaken, get closetothe small still voiceoftheLord,andhear whatHe hasforusnext. It’stimetomovepasttheshipwreckthatmay havesent us running offto hideandseize the destiny thatthe

Lorddesignedforus. Heneverabandonedus,Heneverleftus alone,andHewillNEVERforsakeus.

● I’m notgoing togo backto Destiny2,butitisn’t becauseIam stillhurting fromthelossofmyfavoritehunter. It’s becauseI am moving forward to try some different games, enjoy new experiences, and hopefully get to know some crazy new characters along the way. I am disappointed Cayde-6 isn’t coming back, but I am glad he was there when I needed him.

My“forsaken”experiencewithDestiny2andthelossofCayde mayhaveseemedharshatthetime,butenduringitsetmefree to experience so many other amazing games I wouldn’t have foundtimeforifIdidn’tmoveon. Similarly,itisonlywhenwe choose to leave the “cave of the forsaken” in our lives that we find that the Lord has SO much left for us to do. Listen to the still,smallvoiceoftheLord…Your“destiny”stillawaitsyou!