You know, Ephesians 6 has always been a text that changes things when you get near it……especially when you teach from it or obey because of it: “Putting on the whole armor of God”  is so important. Sam Cathey always said, “Don’t preach Ephesians 6 unless you’re ready for all hell to break loose.”  Sam, I didn’t preach Ephesians 6 this time, but I may have thought about it….Well, when you move into the miracle territory of obedience, you have to remind yourself that the things that can happen to you like the list below, is common.  None of us want to go through the pain of what we don’t want to get to the results of what we do want.  Take a glance at what our family has dealt with since Friday of last week, almost everyday, as we have stepped into the mission field of church planting:

• Our truck was not loaded well; therefore, a myriad of broken furniture, torn leather, and ruined things
• Long list of things to be repaired
• Got stung by a yellow jacket
• Traffic and rain made us late for church Sunday
• Our computers crashed; has taken us days and hours to get it all back up and running
• A dog ran out in front of Jordan and it was killed (I posted yesterday)
• Kim got in my car Tuesday and the check engine light came on
• Kim left her paperwork at home after driving 25 minutes across town
• Jordan went to his school and we couldn’t get in touch with him for 5 hours.  We had to go find him.  We were worried.  We found him.

Needless to say, this is not something I post to acquire self-pity but just to reiterate that as a pastor for almost 20 years, you still have to adjust the attitude, learn, dig deep, and know that God must be up to something big.  The good news is, that the longer you journey with God and His love, the more memory you have of how He’s generally always followed the same course of action.  Our good friend Donna Stilwell put it this way: “If you obey God, the devil comes after you.  If you don’t obey God, God comes after you.”  Which one would you rather have upset with you?  God is bigger!  It’s always worth it, trust me.

P.S. Right in the middle of all of this God has been throwing out blessing: A pastor called and committed to be a financial and support partner of Origin.  Another couple made a contribution to Origin; someone I had never met before.  Check out, here, what’s been similar, and almost the same days of challenge for church planter, Paul Peterson, who just got to Cincinnati.