"A Prescription for Life" (Part 2)

It may be that you feel as though you have been through the “rinse cycle” of life! You are burdened. You have a heavy heart. You feel as though little or nothing has gone right for you in life. Nothing but negative things has come your way. I think all of us go through the “rinse cycle” of life at some time or other. I’ve seen very few people in life who haven’t had something bad happen to them.

Dr. Leroy Lawson is an excellent preacher and writer. For many years he was the Senior Minister at the large Central Christian Church in Mesa, Arizona. He has written many books and has been a featured speaker at the North American Christian Convention. Leroy Lawson has always been a faithful and dedicated preacher and teacher of God’s Word. Although I don’t know him personally I just figured that everything just had to be well for him in life. NOT SO! Several years ago, while preaching at the North American Christian Convention, he could hardly keep from crying. In that sermon he told how he had recently lost his 21-year-old son in death. His son had committed suicide. Leroy and his wife and family had been through the “rinse cycle” of life.

That happens to all of us at one time or another. The devil’s “prescription” for life is resignation. God has a different way for us to live. There’s an old story of a cowboy who walked out of the saloon only to discover that someone had painted his horse’s tail red. As people looked with laughter, he was burning with rage. He asked, “Does anybody know who did this?” “I saw who done it!” someone shouted. “He was wearin’ a vest but no hat. And he went straight from here to the hardware store over there.” “I’ll tear him from limb to limb,” said the cowboy. And he stormed off in the direction of the store. He flung open the door and said, “Did somebody in here paint my horse’s tail red? If so, let him be a man about it and step forward.” A huge blacksmith stepped out from behind a stack of barbed wire. His arms were big as posts, and he appeared to be chiseled from rock. Everyone in the store became silent as he snarled, “I did it. And just what do you have to say about it?” The cowboy looked at the massive blacksmith and sized up his options and said, “It sure looks to me like the first coat is dry. Do you want to apply the second coat or should I?”

The point of my story is this: The devil is a lot bigger and a lot stronger than we think! And make no mistake about it: He is out to deceive us and destroy us and paint our tails red, so to speak! He wants to bully us into believing that he cannot be overcome. God has something else to say:

“What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, jealously longs for us to be faithful? He gives us more and more strength to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, ‘God sets himself against the proud, but he shows favor to the humble.’ So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.” (James 4:4-8 NLV).

There are three practical things we can do to take advantage of this promise. In the next three days we’ll examine each one in detail. For now, begin to think about each of them in your life. They really are God’s prescription for life! The first is to trust in the Lord. Second, we ought to delight in the Lord. And, third, we must commit our full and total lives to the Lord. Satan is powerful, but he is not all-powerful! Our God is all-powerful!