WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT...STUFF HAPPENS.

Hello Ye Ole Cud Chewers. Stuff Happenin'?

I found a copy of a collection of Ruminator Ramblings today...called MOO GOT MAIL (Ruminations From The Rambling Ruminator). As I was thumbing (or would that be hoofing) through the book...my eyes caught a Rambling that I wrote back on 10/1/2003 08:23 A.M. In light of many, many people that I talk to...who are going through STUFF in the lives...I thought I would drag out this old chestnut...dust it off...revamp it...add some pictures (those old Ramblings had no pictures)...and let it escape once again. So hold on...here's hopin'.

DERAILED AND DESPERATE...HOW DID I GET HERE...HANGING FROM THIS HIGH WIRE...BY THE TATTERS OF MY FAITH...SOMETIMES A WIND COMES OUT OF NOWHERE...AND KNOCKS YOU OFF YOUR FEET AND LOOK...SEE MY TEARS...THEY FILL THE WHOLE NIGHT SKY...THE WHOLE NIGHT SKY...SOMETIMES A WIND COMES OUT OF NOWHERE...AND KNOCKS YOU SIDEWAYS...AND LOOK...SEE MY TEARS...THEY FILL THE WHOLE NIGHT SKY...THE WHOLE NIGHT SKY. (Bruce Cockburn "The Whole Night Sky" from the album The Charity of Night)

This is one of my favorite albums in general...and one of my favorite Cockburn (Co-burn) albums. The song quoted here...really speaks to my situations...that I go through...and many of the people that I talk to...and currently...many of my Facebook friends that they post about. Some (me at times) grumble and complain about the STUFF that is happening...others roll over and play dead... others run away from God...while others press into God.

Have you ever been standing in the field...chewing your cud...ruminating away...the sun is shining...the birds are singing...an occasional human being drives by and bellows at you with a moo and laughs as their car speeds on by...and you just keep on chewing that cud...when all of a sudden...BAM...your world falls apart. Your peace is dissipated...your world is rocked...your COMFORT ZONE...suddenly becomes and uncomfortable WAR ZONE?

I mean...there are times when all is right with the world (at least in your private, personal world)...where God is on His throne and you have enough money to meet your needs and an overflow to help out others (true Biblical prosperity).

NOTE: It's pretty easy to believe in healing when you are well. It's pretty easy to trust God for your finances...when you have money in the bank...a job that pays well...401 K...insurance and credit cards to back you up. I mean...why would you need THE Master...when your master is your MasterCard?


One of the phrases in the Bruce Cockburn song that appears three times ( I didn't write all the verses) is SOMETIMES A WIND COMES OUT OF NOWHERE. The word NOWHERE is what takes us by surprise. When I entered my first karate tournament in 2002...I was very nervous. I had been practicing in class...advanced in the ranks...felt pretty good about my abilities for an overweight...at the time 51 year old man. I entered two areas of competition..(1) Kata (no contact in this one...just running my various moves) (2) Kumite (free style sparring). There were rules...referees..my opponent...and Ruminatin' Rod. My expectation was that the referees would enforce the rules and Old Rod would be O.K. Someone forgot to tell my opponent and the referee.

We face off...bowed to each other (out of mutual REI-spect) and BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SOMETIMES A WIND (or a fist) COMES OUT OF NOWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My opponent (see the picture of me and him hugging)...who was a lean, young, mean, fighting machine...looking every inch the spitting image like Major Payne (the Damon Wayans character)...came forward (out of nowhere)...and hit me square on the nose...which happened to be attached to my face). It knocked me back...stung...my head got woozy...my knees wobbly...and I looked over to the ref with the expectancy of him calling a foul and deducting a point. To my surprise...he did none of that...and motioned for us to continue fighting. Long story mad short (oops...to late for that)..OK..long story made even longer..this guy..out of 14 fighters WON...AND I came in 4th place.

My lovely wife Brenda...documented the exact point of contact on my nose...on film...and my son gave me words of advise after the event...when he lovingly told me..."Dad...next time duck." I learned a valuable lesson that day...PEOPLE DON'T ALWAYS PLAY BY MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE RULES. Neither does satan...(little s...he does not deserve capitalization)...and neither does the world.

NOTE: A year later...Major Payne...came to a seminar at our school...Bill Taylor's Bushido School of Karate...and came up to me. He said he wanted to apologize for hitting me in the face...he has felt bad about it for a year. Then we took the picture you now see. Of course after the photo op...I place a ureken across the bridge of his nose. (Just kiddin')

We live in a fallen world where the curse is rampant, there is a devil (little d..he does not deserve capitalization)...who is out to steal, kill and destroy you. Little d is out to accuse you before God...the heavenlies...your brethren and sistern...and even yourself. And when the fallen world...the curse...the devil does not get you...we then pull a Barney Fife and shoot ourself in the foot...by LETTING OUR GUARD DOWN...and ALLOWING STUFF into our lives...OUT OF NOWHERE. Bumper sticker wisdom states that "s*** happens. The sanitized version is STUFF HAPPENS....but I saw a bumper sticker from All Saints Episcopal church that states GRACE HAPPENS. Each one is true...it's how we DEAL WITH IT...that will determine if we STAY KNOCKED DOWN and OUT...or will we RECOVER and CONTINUE ON.

Sensei Bill Taylor has a quote..."Fighting is a game of adjustments." This is so true. If you don't adjust...you will be trying to to a front kick while you are face down in the ground. You must adjust the fight...or you will lose the fight.

This picture is found on the wall at the Broad Street location of Bill Taylor's Bushido School of Karate...and it really is W.O.A.W. (Wisdom On A Wall) It shows the progression of how we should learn things...(1) Stances are the number on foundation. If you don't have a good foundation...you will have ineffective techniques (2) Posture is next. If you are running your techniques with your head looking down...you will miss the moves of your opponents. If your core is bent over your power will be depleted. I your knee is not positioned high for the kick...it will follow the path of where it is pointed...and that is not good if you want to hit the head...and your need is pointed lower. (3) Technique will be executed more strategically precise...when stance and posture are correct.

So it is when SOMETIMES A WIND COMES OF NOWHERE. You need to know how to adjust in the spiritual...because your emotional...and you physical will follow suit.

In Josh McDowell's book EVIDENCE THAT DEMANDS A VERDICT...he put a little thing that stuck with for years....

GODISNOWHERE

NOTE: Read the above phrase...then write down what you see...and say out loud what you wrote down. There were TWO CHOICES:

(1) God is NO where...OR... (2) God is NOW here

Two perspectives...two views...two interpretations...ALL DEPENDING ON HOW YOU LOOK AT IT.

In the Book of the Cud (for Ruminators...that is the Word of God)...we are extolled and encouraged to be ready...stand our ground...keep our guard up...keep our lamps filled with oil and the wicks trimmed...live in expectancy. Expectancy that there ARE enemies...that there are lands to be taken...that there will be opposition...that we can be laid low in the wilderness...that we can stumble...that we can be taken by the very thing that we correct others in...that temptation can not only pull us into something...but that it really pulls us away from who we really are. Expectancy that we can be more than conquerors...the head not the tail...blessed not cursed....blessed beyond the curse for His promises are sure.

Do bad things happen to TRUE BELIEVERS? Do bad things happen to FAITH PEOPLE? Do the winds come out of NOWHERE and knock us off our feet and knocks us sideways...catching us by surprise? Do the fighters and referees always play by the rules..and do you sometimes get hit square in the face? Do the fighters in the street play by the rules and regulations?

The answer is...YES...STUFF...UNFAIR...UNEXPECTED STUFF HAPPENS...and NO...LIFE IS NOT FAIR...but HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT (His favor, gift, divine influence in our heart manifested in our lives)...because in the midst of the NOWHERE WINDS....is His NOW HERE PRESENCE and HELP.

NOTE: You may be doing ALL THE RIGHT THINGS...and still STUFF HAPPENS. It is not a badge of your spiritual maturity...or a gauge of your faith if STUFF (good or bad) HAPPENS TO YOU. If could mean that you are SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS WILL AND WALKING LIKE YOU SHOULD BE WALKING...walking by FAITH...and not by SIGHT (II Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 11:1, 6)

Here' some STUFF to do...whole you are in the midst of your STUFF:

1. Test yourself to see i you are still in the faith (II Corinthians 13:5)
2. If there is SIN in your life...deal with it (by repentance and confession) and be done with it
(I John 1:5-10)
3. If there is a devil trying to pull you into something and away from who you really are...then
RESIST him. (Matthew 4:1-11; I Peter 5:5-11)
4. If our are LAID LOW in the wilderness...do a temptation check. (I Corinthians 10:13)
5. Realize who is the enemy. (Ephesians 6:10-12
6. Join the RESISTANCE FORCE (I Peter 5:8-9; Ephesians 6:13)
7. After the first wave of attack of STUFF...don't let you GUARD down. (Ephesians 6:13-14)
8. Get on your armour and be ready for the battle (Ephesians 6:13-17)
9. Pray (Ephesians 6:18-19)
10.Prepared yourself for the battle BEFORE the battle. (Joshua 1:1-18)

Well...that is it. I don't know about you...but I needed that. If you needed that...let me know.

Love and DUCK DAD Kisses
Rodney "His Grace Is Really Sufficient" Boyd