Prepared for a Time
“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
When I read the Bible, it's easy for me to see how God prepared people for specific moments and purposes. However, in my own life, it's much harder. Esther, like me, struggled to understand the position and responsibilities God was calling her into. Yet, Mordecai had perspective on the situation and encouraged Esther to step into the moment.
Recently, I had the chance to watch a friend step into one of his moments, and like Esther, I'm not sure he fully recognized it. But I could see it, and I wanted to take a moment to commend my friend Jeff Neet.
If you're not acquainted with Jeff, let me tell you about him. Jeff is a warm and gentle individual who possesses a peaceful, laid-back spirit. He is the type of guy who moseys through the world. I first met Jeff at a Christian Game Developers Conference, and we became fast friends. At the time, he was a programmer working in military applications, but he aspired to work in the gaming industry. As time passed, we eventually had an opportunity to work together on a project with Numinous Games called Galaxies of Hope. It was a deep, meaningful game for cancer survivors, funded by a pharmaceutical company. Even though it was the first time working together, Jeff contributed in a big way. He shared a beautiful idea from a prototype he had created, and we ultimately based the entire game on it.
A few years later, we started an indie studio together, called PxlPug, with the vision of creating games that bring people together and foster community. We were excited and believed in the vision, but years of stalled opportunities, false starts, frustrations, and unrealized prophetic words left us confused and exhausted. To support our families, I freelanced on various game projects, and Jeff designed and built a logistics app for a soda franchise.
Sometimes in life, we find ourselves in places that feel like detours, heading in a direction that differs from our goals. I've felt that way, and I know that Jeff has felt similarly, especially during the season we were spinning our wheels with PxlPug. We prayed and prayed to have the chance to return to working on our games, but no matter what we tried, we felt increasingly distant from those dreams.
Fast forward to this year, Jeff and I are both on staff at the Salvation Poem Project, where we're finally able to work on games together. Over the last year and a half, we've been working diligently on a 2D adventure game called Clayfire. Until one day, Jeff was asked to head up another project: a movie ticket finder for group buyouts. It's the type of thing Christian filmmakers have been asking for years. And it's precisely the tool Salvation Poem needed for their upcoming animated film release, Light of the World.
Light of The World Ticket Finder
Jeff could have easily interpreted this assignment as another detour from making games, but he happily took it on with confident humility. And like Mordecai looking at Esther, I can now see that the "detours" God took Jeff on are precisely the instruments God used to prepare him to accomplish the important assignment in this season.
I know many people in the Christian Game Developers Community are working in another field and trying to transition to game development. I also know numerous game developers who are currently taking on work outside of game development to support their families. I want to encourage you. God is using this time to develop in you the skills, character, and faith for what he has planned for you in the future. Even if it means hopping off the game development path for a time to help work on something else God wants to do.
God’s plans for you are bigger than you—they are bigger than your plans, dreams, and visions for your life. Whatever He is doing will be for His glory and the benefit of others. So, stay the course and continue laying down your plans, and be willing to partner with God on His.
If you feel like you're on a detour and need some prayer, or if you have a story about how God used your detour in an extraordinary way, send me an email. I would love to hear from you.
