Playing through the original Halo trilogy back when the games first launched vs. replaying them now is a VASTLY different experience. In my first playthrough, this seemingly basic “space marine saves the world” story quickly gave way to some surprising (and occasionally unwelcome) twists and turns. From exposing the hidden purpose of the iconic Halo rings, to the betrayal of 343 Guilty Spark, to former enemy the Arbiter evolving from a lethal adversary to a valuable and critical ally, each chapter wouldn’t have made much sense if played without the added context of the others. But after the trilogy was complete, even the cliffhangers I didn’t appreciate the first time I played them finally made sense… they were serving a larger story.

The story that the Lord is telling through our lives will often feel like chaotically disparate chapters when viewed from our limited perspective, and they aren’t always easy to appreciate while we are living through them. But each event is a very intentional page He has written in our book that won’t necessarily make sense to us until the final sentence is written in both our narrative and the connected stories that are being told in the lives of others. In His perfect time, His purpose for the cliffhangers and betrayals we’re enduring will be fully revealed… and then we’ll finally understand.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 1 Corinthians 13:12

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Launching a new console is not easy or cheap, and in order to remain relevant in the console marketplace a continuing price has to be paid… a price that Microsoft has learned the hard way. But as longtime hardware developers like Atari and Sega as well as newer companies to the party like Google became unwilling to pay the ongoing price of participation, Xbox doubled down and has continued to invest deeply in their commitment to the home console market every year despite the cost. While each iteration of their hardware has consistently sold at a net loss, the only path to the treasure that they are seeking is to see the road through to the end.

The act of “taking up our cross” and following the Lord involves more than just a one-time event of believing in Christ and accepting His grace… it is an ongoing, self-sacrificial journey that will continue for the rest of our lives. Each step we take as we carry our cross will compel us to shed the layers of selfishness that once defined us, and it is a process that is guaranteed to be uncomfortable… crosses are costly, not cozy. But it is in our active, daily choice to pick up a cross that we’d rather not carry that shows we’re truly following in the His footsteps… He would’ve liked a different option as well, but He chose to obey because the reward was worth it.

Whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it – lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:27-30, 33

And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Luke 22:41-42

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Halo Reach, Bungie’s final “swan song” in the Halo universe, was a prequel that set up the entire Halo conflict through the eyes of a brave fireteam of Spartans named “Noble Team”. As each member of the squad lived up to their name and paid the ultimate price in service of their mission, it slowly became clear that none of us were going to survive the events of Reach… but we WERE going to shape the future. As the game built to its powerful, inevitable crescendo, the pain in our journey all finally made sense… our sacrifice preserved the life of the one and only Master Chief, the Spartan who would go on to finish this fight one day. We didn’t win this battle, but our faithful obedience won the war. 

Our struggles in life serve eternal purposes that aren’t always going to be immediately obvious to us while we’re going through them, and many will not reveal their full impact until after our time on this planet has reached its’ conclusion. But if we will obediently yield our lives to the unique challenges our Master has called us to, we’ll find the meaning behind our mission. We are each one part of a sacrificial relay race, carrying the baton as far as we can during our leg of the race before passing it on to the next teammate until the circle is complete… and reaching tomorrow’s souls is paved through the sacrifices of today.

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 1 Corinthians 9:24-26

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:7-8

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