Exhortation

Lumber Yard Sanctification
Submitted by Cedric Fisher.
Posted by Joey Kelly

When I was a young Christian fresh from the world system, my hot temper intact, I went to work in a lumber yard. There was a building boom going on at the time and the yard was very busy with many workers scurrying in all directions. It was like a micro-social system. Some workers were from a half-way house in a program to assist them in transitioning from prison back into a community. There was the racial factor and various types of personalities. I had spent most of my adult life working in bars and nightclubs as a musician. So it was a new experience dealing with the push and shove and rigor of hard work. Some folks were lazy, but knew how to make it appear they accomplished something. They were connivers who would take credit for my work. Some guys were trash talkers. Other ones wanted to be bullies.

In my past life I knew how to deal with that challenge. But as a new Christian I had to learn how to do it God's way. I cannot count the number of times I wanted to knock someone out. I was right on the verge of doing so many several times and had to get somewhere quiet and wait for the tension to subside. I had to deal with bad thoughts long after the urge to fight was under control. I absolutely despise injustice. People who take advantage of someone to push them around were my primary problem. To this day I am grateful and thank God often that He taught me how to be peaceful, to accept injustice committed against me, and to forgive.

However, it took years for me to completely conquer and defeat my quick and violent temper. To force me to face that stronghold of propensity against His Divine Nature, God sent me into one trial after another where my temper would be set off in a rage. The process of overcoming it began the first time I was confronted by injustice and went into an instant rage. I felt totally defeated afterward. That evening I repented and prayed for forgiveness. The Holy Spirit gave me a scripture that I would quote to myself many times, and sometimes to the person provoking me:

For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully (1 Peter 2:19).

It is true that God's word is a powerful sword of the Holy Spirit. He can use it to convict, piercing to the very depths of a person, or he can use it as a scalpel with surgical precision. A Christian will remains weak and immature if he or she does not allow the Holy Spirit to use His sword in them.

Whatever you may be wrestling with in your life, find a scripture that defeats it. Commit it to memory, and speak the word against that stronghold. Then be patient while God works. Don't be surprised if the very first step is to place you in a trial where that stronghold will be exposed. If you fail that trial, repent and get back in the process. Make submission to God your forte. As James wrote, Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7:7).