The Ordering of Events

I spent the day travelling to and from the headquarters of the Rescue Mission Alliance. For those of you who do not know, they are the folks who write me a couple paychecks each month. I am very thankful for my job. I may be even more thankful for my wife's job since she makes more money than I do, but that is another story. Usually once a month I go down there--to Oxnard, CA, the headquarters, for some kind of meeting. Today there were two of them so I saw lots of my fellow employees. I also learned a thing or two. Imagine that.


I have met a lot of great people since taking this position. And of course I never realized just how boring my life really was until I started working with people in recovery. I just want to say thank you. I am able to write this blog because they write me a couple checks each month. Thank you RMA!


The previous paragraph was something more than simple reminicenses. God always orders our lives according to His purposes. In fact, the Bible tells us, "...we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10) Sometimes we feel that our lives are a series of random events. However, it is clear from scripture that God not only knows what the events of our lives are, but He has prepared the works He wants us to do in advance. In that regard, He does what a football coach does in drawing up plays. He draws x's and o's on the board then draws the lines and directions to show what each of us is supposed to do as the play unfolds. For that reason, we must understand the things that come to us or against us, whether good or bad, all happen under the watchful eye of our loving Heavenly Father. If we can get that concept into our minds and from there to our spirits, we would live our lives entirely differently than we do. We would be free to do whatever God has for us to do at anytime without concerns about His care, guidance, protection, and provision. We would know in our spirits those things are already givens in the Kingdom of God. In fact it seems I have read something somewhere like not worrying about tomorrow because today has enough of its own problems.


Since, then, the course of our lives are ordered by God, it seems things should be going simply wonderfully all the time. Many of you know I am a classic introvert. People bug me sometimes. Yes, seriously. Sometimes I imagine how nice the commute would be to work if all y'all would just stay off the freeway. And if I stop to get a beverage at the local mini market will you please just pay with cash. Use exact change if you can. Oh, and you guys at the mission, (yes, staff too) sometimes I just need a little space and there really are a few things I cannot change anyway. I think I manage to deal with most people pretty well most of the time. In fact, most of you know I have made a concerted effort within the past few months to walk in love toward everybody. That does not mean I am going to quit being me. I can only please a few people a day. Maybe this is not your day.


Yes, I am making a point here. I am afraid it's another kind of an ugly one. I would apologize, but one of the things I learned today at the first meeting is that sometimes it is easier to be nice than to be honest. (So many things going through my head as I write that.) Along with the love walk, I have recently seen the importance of being honest. That story is too long to fit in this space, but somehow I know it is going to come up in the future, and probably sooner rather than later.


This blog and the spiritual warfare that initiated it are an unfolding revelation. Please, never make the mistake of thinking any of us have it all figured out. Heck, most of the time I'm surprised when I see the words come up on my monitor. Trust me, I am not that smart. If you see anything impressive in these pages, thank the Holy Spirit whom we hope is the real writer.


Ok so the point is, bad things are going to happen to good people. Often we bring them on ourselves through ignorance, stupidity, or rebellion. Sometimes they come by way of other men. (Deep breath, here is where it gets ugly.) Occasionally, those bad things come into our lives as a result of other people doing the wrong things toward us, or simply not doing the right things. Jesus said, "Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!" (Matthew 18:7) In other words, people are going to do the wrong things toward us sometimes. That is going to be between them and God. Those times give us the opportunity to work on our own love walk. Admittedly, it would have been better had they been walking love toward us, but for some reason they were not. That is going to be between them and God. Our responsibility is to continue to walk in love toward them. We have no doubt everyone reading this post has someone to forgive for something and, conversely, we all have things for which we need to ask forgiveness. God is gracious. In fact if you have been born again, He has already put those things under the blood of Jesus and will not bring them up again. We still need to deal with them by airing them out with the other party.


We would be remiss if we did not close this post with an invitation. Perhaps there are those of you out there who feel you have been offended, snubbed, insulted, or otherwise injured by something we have done--or did not do. We ask that you would make that known to us so that we can do whatever is possible to make it right. Maybe in reading some of this material you have come to realize we did not mean to do evil against you and have already found it in your heart to forgive us for it. Thank you. It would be very encouraging for us to hear about those things too.