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Out of Order



My pastor (Dr. Dimitri Bradley www.mobcc.org) is preaching a series on "Renewing The Mind", this past Sunday's sermon was a true eye opener for me. Dr. Bradley spoke about how God has a specific order in which we are to follow to successfully navigate through life. Through his illustration of an out of order machine, I made the comparison to some of life's experiences. The only way we can find out God's order is by renewing our minds with His word on a continuous basis.

James 4:6-7
6 But He gives us more and more grace ([a]power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it).
7 So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.

Focusing on verse 7 is shows the order we should follow: Be subject to God, resist the temptations of the devil and he will flee. It was mentioned that often times things don't go right because things in our lives are out of order. It doesn't necessarily mean that you won't get it, but it may not be the best time for you to have it.

The illustration that Dr. Bradley used was that of an out of order vending machine and your favorite snack. You walk by the vending machine at work in the morning and notice your favorite snack. After lunch you get a crisp dollar bill and change ready for the machine. If the dollar isn't crisp we will run it along the edge of the desk to make sure it's prepared properly. So you walk to the machine and there you see a your favorite snack the 1 thing you wanted yet....there is a huge OUT OF ORDER sign on it.  You see the thing you wanted so bad right in front of you and you can practically taste it.  The time was even taken to properly prepare your money (yourself) for what you wanted. You are now at the point of frustration and/or anger and you know you just have to do something to get what you want. So now what?............

What came to mind after he mentioned the vending machine is that when this happens we have 3 options:
1: Make a phone call to the vendor and allow time for him to fix the machine so that when he's done the machine will work the way it was designed to work. Your money is prepared and the machine now works properly to dispense the item you wanted.

 2: Take matters into your own hands; shake, kick, and try to pry the snack out of the machine. After doing all of that the package may be torn and the snack may be squished. Then you have wasted your time and energy fighting the machine for something  you no longer desire. On top of that because the machine wouldn't take the money you are stealing and possibly damaging something that doesn't belong to you.

 3: Walk away in search of another machine with the same or similar snack in it. This will cause you to waste even more time searching for something you may not find in another machine. You may also find yourself settling for just anything to satisfy your craving for that snack. The next vending machine may also cost you more money.

The right thing to do would be option 1, understand that it is out of your hands, contact the vendor (God) and allow Him time to work on the machine(situation) and on you in the area of patience. Once the vendor (God) has fixed the machine(situation) and your patience has been proven you can try again. This way all things are in order for you to receive what you want. We don't have to try to get in there and fix things on our own, let the vendor handle it and things will go the right way. He is the ultimate source and knows how to fix ALL things, so who would be better at doing the job than Him. It is also important for us not to just run off and go looking for the next vending machine, because the cost may be higher than we expect and we may spend time searching for something that if we were patient may be handed to us.

 What this has taught me about my own situations is to be patient and live my life in the order of God. His order says to submit to God, resist the devil and he WILL flee. So if the devil is not fleeing from me, I need to go back and start again at bringing every area of my life under the submission of God. I must ask myself in what area(s) am I not truly submitting to God? How can I do better? Ask God to guide you and reveal to you where the change needs to occur.
James 4:10 says humble yourself in the presence of God and HE will exalt you. I don't have to fight or try to figure things out all I have to do is humble myself by submitting to God , live out his word, which includes fleeing the  devil and God WILL exalt me. Keep in mind that this is in His time and His way. Remain open to what He wants to do in your life. If you falter, pick yourself up and start over again.

As always I hope this message blessed you in some way and I'd love to hear from you; like, comment, and share the blog.

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© 2013, Robin I. Taylor. All rights reserved. Originally published at
http://radianttransparency.blogspot.com
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