I’ve been pretty obsessed with Beast Games lately.

Listen, I’m just as surprised as you are. I don’t have the greatest opinion of Mr. Beast. In all honesty, I find him kind of creepy. There’s just something off about his smile.

But my mentor and his family got super into it as the second season was coming out last month, which means I had to check it out, which means, of course, I got super into it, too.

Like I said, Mr. Beast isn’t someone I watch very much. So imagine my surprise when God used Beast Games to preach to me.

Beast Games and Jesus Talks

For those of you who aren’t in the know-how (and I really don’t blame you for this, part of me is surprised I am in the know-how), Beast Games is a TV show on Amazon where a bunch of people compete with each other in a bunch of different games for a chance to win 5 million dollars. Yep. 5 Million. That’s a crazy amount of money.

Watching the show brought me to the edge of my seat. Who was going to win the 5 Mil? Who would get eliminated? The stakes feel so intense and high in the show that you can’t help but lean in as you watch.

For those of you who don’t know, we have a God who is crazy about us. God loves you, and he likes you, too. He cares about what you care about.

I’ll be honest, sometimes I forget about this. I’ll be going on with life, when suddenly God will bring up something I care about, or I watched, and each time it sort of shocks me. Almost like I didn’t expect him to actually care enough about what I liked to bring it up and use it.

Anxiety is a liar

My friend told me something recently. She was like, “Alli, sometimes you just walk around with a vaguely panicked look on your face.”

This was news to me. I often don’t know what expression is coming across my face, and let me tell you, it got me into quite a bit of trouble back when I was a kid. My face is very expressive, and if there’s something going on that I’m not too sure about, you’ll be sure to know exactly how I feel just by looking at me.

A lot of this anxiety comes about because I want to give my all to every situation that I’m in. I go into life trying my best—which isn’t a bad thing. But this anxiety (really, the enemy) tells me something that I choose to agree with. It tells me that I need to be on edge, to be aware and vigilant, so that I can catch whatever bad thing might happen and stop it.

I watch my deadlines like a hawk. I usually wake up, heart thumping, five minutes before my alarm because all through the night I’m worried I’ll miss it. I could go on, and on about all the ways I let fear tell me about my reality rather than God. Which, leads me to the point of all this rambling…

There was this situation I was in with this guy, my boyfriend at the time. Some issues had come up, and I was level 10 freaking out about it. I had no idea what to do, what the right thing was, what the wrong thing was, any of it. I was straight-up panicking.

That’s when I went to God…

I remember praying, my hands shaking, my eyes tightly squeezed shut. Please, I thought in my head. Please, I need to know what the right choice is. Help me not screw this up.

That’s when Beast Games suddenly popped into my head. Weird, I thought. Don’t get distracted right now, Alli. This is important. Before I could force the thought out and make sure I was properly listening, I heard a quiet whisper in my mind.

“Alli,” God whispered. “This isn’t a 5 million dollar decision. The stakes are low.”

A wave of relief washed over me, and for a moment, I leaned back in my chair and just took that in. The stakes are low. No matter what you’re actually doing, no matter what choices you have to make, the stakes are low. Why?

Because Jesus already won.

The real stakes—your soul, your salvation, your eternity—that’s already been handled. Jesus came and defeated the highest stakes imaginable, just for you.

That deadline that you gotta hit? Stakes are low, fam. That deadline doesn’t determine whether you spend the rest of your life and eternity with Jesus or not. God knows about that deadline. God knows about that project that is stressing you out. That relationship you need help with. That thing that you’re striving for? God knows, and the stakes are low. Either you’ll get it or you won’t, and the facts remain the same.

God died for you, so the stakes are low.

So take a breath. Tell the enemy to shut up. Remind yourself…the stakes are low.

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