DoTA is like my spiritual walk?!

To some of you, this picture is all too familiar and needs no introduction. Some of you are thinking: ah that stupid game again. Cant believe i used to play that.
To some, this is a blessing. and some a curse.
Some of you freaking love and worship this game!
Some of you have not even played this game.
Like it or not, many have played this and have spent days playing it!

This is Dota(Defense of the Ancients). This is now one of the most popular custom maps in WC3(Warcraft3). I would say Dota is as important to WC3 as Counter Strike is to Half Life.

After playing thousands of DoTA games, I cant help but notice how closely it relates to our spiritual walk with God.

The Waiting:
You are all fired up to play! You called four of your friends together to form a team and it's Saturday night, no one is going to stop you and you hosted a game on whichever server you are playing on and you gave your room an attractive game name:(-APPPPPPPPPPPPPP, Come Pawn Noob Host, -Ap Come get girl's number) Well the first name is just annoying, the second is a lie. Hosts usually beat the stuffing out of everyone due to their zero lag time and the third one is definatly a lie.

After that what happens, you wait ......and wait ......and wait. No one cones in! Or one player enters and another leaves! The room cant fill up and all five of you have to act like strangers and pretend to be nice to the player who just joined. It is frustrating to wait and the host gets pissed off and the RMKs start popping out.

Now, have you ever prayed and waited for God to answer? And you waited...... and waited..... and no answer? Then we usually get irritated and angry at God. Well the book of Isaiah chapter 55 tells us that the ways and thoughts of the Lord is higher. Therefore His timing and our timing is way different. It is the same when we are waiting for people to join the game or waiting upon God's answer. The fruit of patience is needed

Crossing the River:
Yes..the lovely river in the middle of the map. Some love it. Some hate it. It is the place where many things happen. Ambushing, backstabbing and gang-banging. When you are in a good position and feeling stronger than the opponent, you would have more confidence in crossing it.
Here is the typical example when it comes to crossing the river:


Movenwrath: Come all mid. Push and end game. Later they grow fat!
Illidan: Cant. We not fat enough. They are stronger than us. Farm more
l3s: U all go first. I got Travel. I join you all later
M0rph: Coming coming.
cskillz: Wait ah. Let me farm my MKB first then my razor pawn them all

Crossing the river may be a scary thing because we enter into the unknown. Some are hesitant and want to be more prepared. But when it comes, we still have to take that step of faith and cross it because if you don't cross it, you cant win.

Revelation 3:20 says: Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

God wants you to take that step of faith with Him in your life regardless of how many years you have been a christian or non-christian. Full surrender in what you are doing knowing that He is there to catch you when you fall. So crossing the river is just like taking that step of faith with God.

Farming:
One of the most important aspects of the game. All you people sneakily timing the last hits! The amount of creeps you kill in a game determines how strong and how superior you items will be. The more creeps you kill, the more money and level. Now, imagine your christian life where you do not read the bible or do any devotion and quiet time. It would be like depriving the hero of gold and good items. Your spiritual life wont be filled so farming in DoTA is just like reading the bible everyday in our spiritual walk.

Teamwork:
I have won and lost countless games due to either superb or horrible teamwork. Be it in pushing, ambushing or out micro-managing the opponents, teamwork and trust plays an important role. I have seen 2 heroes take out all 5 heroes, a game where there is an average of one kill a minute and a 5v5 game ended in just 12 minutes and why? teamwork!

Hebrews 12:1 says that we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses. We do not run this christian life of faith alone. There are fellow brothers and sisters around to help you when you need them. No man is an island and we can't do everything alone.

The Noobs:
Irritating aren't they? Even if they are not on your team, they will feed and leave. When they are on your team, your team now has to pull out a top class performance/miracle or hope that the opponent has more noobs.

Remember now, you were once a noob too when you just heard of this game called Dota and you rushed to the cyber cafe or home to install WC3 just for DoTA. There will be people with different skill levels, some who are naturally gifted in DoTA and some who have played WC3 and so picking up DoTA was easier. What if no one taught you how to play or you plainly just canot play DoTA?

This world is filled with christians with different levels of spiritual maturity and understanding, some who are yet to be saved and some who are bron less fortunate. It is the same as those players with different skill levels, players who are new to DoTA and some who just cant play DoTA. You would like to laugh at them and call them noobs right? Now what if you were the noob? Be the salt and light. Reach out to those who are in need and less fortunate.

The Spree:
Killing-spree! Dominating! Mega-Kill! Triple Kill! feels good eh? you feel on fire. On a roll. High!
Reminds me of......Camps! When ever we come back from one, we feel awsome. Refreshed and on fire for God. How long is it going to last? Depends on you. We should always be Owning for God. Is the enemy going to end your Mega-kill? Or will you go on to be Unstoppable for God?