What to do When Life Deals You A Bad Hand

I was playing solitaire on my phone one night—just chilling and was excited because the cards were falling into place. The right cards were coming up, and I was celebrating. But then, when I hit the card deck in the corner for the last time, the wrong cards fell. Ugh, I was so disappointed, and I quit playing the game.

As I slammed my phone down on the table, I said to myself, “I'm never playing this stupid again.” Then I suddenly realized this is exactly what happens in life. Everything is going great! Members in our family are healthy, job is going well, no drama is around. Then suddenly here comes the bad hand. The car breaks down, a pipe in the house is leaking, layoffs occur on the job, a spouse decides to cheat, kids are not doing well in school, a family member gets cancer, or your sibling is mad at you. And nationally, the country experiences mass shootings and terrorist attacks. Do you slam the game of life down on the table, and say I quit?

It's really tempting to quit after being dealt a bad hand, but God tells us to hang in there or persevere, many times in His Word. God wants us to know He protects His people. The key words are “His people.” Psalms 125:1-2 says, “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore."

Who are God's people? Those who have trusted His Son as Lord and Savior, and follow Him in obedience to His Word. Those who trust God. Those who delight in the Lord. God tests the heart of His people through the bad hands we receive. It is a test of the heart to see if His people truly trust God. It either draws people closer to God, making them stronger in faith, or it causes them to quit. Those who stand in faith, trusting God are not moved, and God surrounds them with love. Keep in mind that storms are temporary. They don’t last always. More issues may be created if we quit or try to solve problems ourselves.

When life deals you a bad hand, don't throw it in. Give it over to God and let Him play the hand.

After reflection, I picked up my phone and played solitaire again, and this time I won the game. If I had decided to delete the game from my phone, then I would not have experienced victory. I'm telling you the same thing, don't quit. Stand and keep playing your hand in this game called life. With God on your side, you will have the victory.