Rock, Paper, Scissors
The other day, I was thinking about the game of rock paper scissors. Rock smashes scissors, scissors cuts paper, and paper covers rock. I was considering how ridiculous it seemed that paper could somehow beat rock, but then I began to think. Even though when comparing paper to a rock, a rock seems much stronger, the paper still has special abilities that let it beat an opponent much more powerful. What this teaches us is that everything and everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Our weaknesses are made stronger by the Devil, and our strengths are made more powerful by the Lord.
So, once I’d figured this out, I began to think about rock paper scissors in the context of Christianity. “Blessed be the Lord, my Rock.” -Psalm 144:1-2 “The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be God, the rock of my salvation.” -2 Samuel 22:46 “Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” -Psalm 19:14 “Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord we have an everlasting Rock.” -Isaiah 26:4
So, the rock in rock paper scissors is God. What do we know about rocks? They are hard, they are strong, they stand the test of time, they give us something to cling to when we are slipping. The Lord is our steadfast anchor, our refuge, our rock. We hold onto Him for dear life. Now, if rock is the Lord, then paper is His words. And not just His words, but our words. Paper is the text of the Bible, the things we say and write and speak about our Father. The thing about paper is that it has the ability to be manipulated and change based on what we are saying. Depending on the way we speak of God, paper can be very powerful against the Devil, and in favor of the Lord, but if we choose not to use our words to worship Him, paper can lift up the Devil and cover up Jesus Christ. And that’s exactly what paper does. Paper covers rock. Paper can either cover up rock by shielding Him, if we choose to wrap our words around Jesus and never let Him go. Paper can cover up Rock by holding onto Him, by surrounding Jesus and uplifting Him in our praise. But paper can also conceal the rock. If our words are not chosen carefully to reflect the name of our Lord, we can cause the rock to disappear. All that will be shown are our words, and our God will have vanished beneath layers of our words that aren’t being used to uphold him. Our words are a powerful tool, and we must use them to lift up the name of Jesus instead of knock Him down.
Now, on to scissors. Scissors is Satan. Scissors are sharp. They cut through paper, cut right through our words if we choose to allow them. The Devil has the ability to manipulate our words. He has the ability to cut our words into pieces, to slice through them if we choose to stray from Jesus. Satan tries his best to tarnish our opinions of Jesus. But here’s the thing. If the Devil is scissors and God is our Rock… what can rock do to scissors? Rock smashes scissors. Our God is the only one with the power to obliterate the Devil. If we choose to let our words wrap around Him with words of praise, not only will Satan be unable to touch us, but our God will be able to defeat him once and for all. Ultimately, scissors fail because rock is able to destroy him.
Now, back to what I said at the beginning. Every weapon has its strength and weakness. The Devil’s strength is his ability to manipulate our words, to make our words flimsy so he is able to cut through them. But the thing is, if we see scissors coming – if we identify the Devil’s schemes and tactics, he will never be able to cut through us. And what about the rock? Surely, God doesn’t have a weakness. The only way God could ever lose a battle is if He loses the battle in our hearts. If we choose to refuse to let our words worship and uphold Jesus, if we choose as his followers to cover up His glory, that is the only way God could ever lose. We are His weakness. Paper holds a lot of power. The words we speak and the way we choose to glorify God have a lot of power over the Devil. The only paper the Devil can cut through is our words unprotected by the words of Jesus. If we surround our rock with praise, our lives cannot be impacted by the Devil’s schemes. He cannot see into our minds, anticipate our next move. Our rock is always with us and the Devil cannot hurt us when our words glorify God.
