I woke up this morning and the first word that jumped at me was, ‘Don’t worry, I will play the joker.’

I checked for the meaning of the word JOKER and got an interesting one from the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary. One meaning of the word joker is ‘an extra playing card that is used in some card games, usually as a wild card.’ I checked the meaning of WILD CARD from the same dictionary and it states, ‘an opportunity for somebody to play in a competition when they have not qualified in the usual way.’ I went on to check the meaning of the idiomatic expression, JOKER IN THE PACK and it reads, ‘a person or thing who could change the way that things will happen in a way that CANNOT BE PREDICTED.

I was so excited as I read the expression, ’cannot be predicted’ that’s why I placed it in capital letters. If you put the meaning of all these three words and expressions together, one point is clear. A joker brings an UNEXPECTED TWIST to the card game and by extension anything it comes in contact with.

So when God says he will play the joker, he is about to introduce an UNEXPECTED and PLEASANT ENDING to an otherwise ugly story.

I sat up straight and listened as God took me through scripture. I thought about the story of Jesus. Satan and his cohorts were rejoicing that Jesus had been crucified. The Chief Priests and Pilate conspired to guard the sepulchre where he was buried, making it secure (Matthew 27:62-66). It seemed like the end for the righteous one who had come to save the world.

But God was laughing at them. For they did not know the joker he had. They did not know that Jesus had to DIE to save the world.

God played THE JOKER and so through the death of Jesus, Satan is now being tormented by many ‘Jesuses’ all over the globe. And he cries, ‘Had I known(I Corinthians 2:8)

When Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, they thought that was the end of his dreams.

They did not know that they were taking him close to the fulfilment of his dreams. For Egypt was the land where his dreams would be fulfilled.

Then Potiphar’s wife played her own card and lied against Joseph so that he was sent to prison. She did not know that the prison was the SHORTCUT to the palace.

God played THE JOKER and Joseph, a stranger in a foreign land became Prime Minister.

I remember several incidents in my life when God played his joker.

During my secondary school days, I was called a dunce several times because I was not excelling in many subjects, especially Mathematics.

God played THE JOKER

I, who was considered a dunce, had one of the best school certificate results in my secondary school, got a prize and a scholarship,.

All at once!

I worked in a company some years ago. And I was made to start from the very bottom of the organisation when I was qualified to get a higher post. But I took the job rather than stay idle.  I had no table, no chair, no computer, no office mail address, no job description. I was the ‘photocopier of paper,’ the ‘bringer of water from the dispenser, the ‘doer of all sorts of odd jobs.’ Then one day, a lady who was not my boss gave me a document to take to an office. It was a job meant for an office assistant. She was much younger than I was. I took the document but that day, I ‘erected a war room’ in my house. I cried to God and said, ‘enough.’

God played THE JOKER.

The lady was posted out of the department. I took over her table, her chair, her computer and her job description.

All in one day!

I also recall a job I took up and I was made the centre of office gossip. Someone who was present at my interview panel said in the open office that I did not pass the company interview test but was employed in the organisation because I knew ‘someone at the top.’

I was pained.

God again played THE JOKER.

I who was considered unable to pass a MERE job interview test, collected SEVENTEEN ACADEMIC AWARDS on the same day!

Today, I am faced with so many battles and I struggle through them wondering if there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

And God came with the word that he will again play THE JOKER.

So comforting!

I don’t know what battles you face today.

Ask God to play THE JOKER and see the unexpected twist to that unending problem.