DIRT (Devine Intervention Righteous Triumph)
Opening:
• Happy New Year to everyone! I’m thankful for another opportunity to share with you today. When I think of the New Year’s Day, I always think about staying up to see the new year begin. I remember as a child shooting fireworks sometimes on New Year’s Eve. Now I’m talking about the “real” fireworks like bottle rockets, roman candles, and black cat firecrackers. I remember the traditional New Year’s Day meal that I never ate. Thankfully we don’t have that meal at our house although Sam loves it! And of course there are the New Year resolutions. Did you know only about 45% of Americans make resolutions? Of those that make resolutions, only 46% maintain the resolutions past six months.
• One certainty for 2013 is the two t’s, trials and triumphs, will visit all of us this year. Today I want to speak to you on the topic of DIRT (Divine Intervention Righteous Triumph).
Divine is not Daisy or Dan, Danielle or Don. Divine is not your doctor or you dad. See the divine I’m referring to is Almighty God!
This intervention is not some new program for 2013. It’s the Holy Spirit being invited into your daily affairs; an open invitation from you to God for Him to step in and take over; a decision on your part to give God control of your life.
The DIRT principle is like an equation where one side equals the other. When we allow God to have control of our life and allow the Holy Spirit to intervene for us that equals righteous triumph in our lives.
Text
Romans 8: 38-39
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD!)
Story
The story’s told of a farmer whose mule fell into a well. Since he had no way to get him out, he decided to bury him there. He got a truckload of dirt and dumped it on top of the mule. But instead of lying down under it, the mule started kicking and snorting until he worked his way to the top of it. This continued all afternoon. Truckload after truckload, the mule just kept shaking it off and stepping on top of it. Finally, when the dirt reached the top of the well the mule just snorted and walked away, a dirtier but wiser mule.
Now I can’t help but think this mule had a purpose for living. This mule must have been in a pasture next to a church. It is almost like he had recently heard a great sermon, a beautiful song, or a very applicable quote from the Bible. Let’s look at a few key points of this story and how they apply to our lives.
• 1st: Trials will come
This is what Paul was speaking of in Romans 8. Trials are a part of life. How we deal with these trials determines if we triumph. In fact only through divine intervention can we be assured of righteous triumph. Remember what Forrest Gump’s mama said? Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get! With divine intervention whether the day is good or bad we can righteously triumph. At work or school we all probably have that “special” someone that’s difficult to deal with. It never fails that they come around on an already “bad” day! Our families as much as we love them can sometimes test our faith. Let’s face it if we aren’t careful a trial can come in church! No matter how hard we try, there is no way to avoid trials. There are mountain top experiences (triumphs) and valley lows (trials). However, Paul was steadfast in his belief that no trial, NOTHING could separate us from God’s love. He was operating under the DIRT principle (Divine Intervention Righteous Triumph).
• 2nd: Don’t lie down, instead work
As surely as the sun rises and sets each day problems will come into our lives. However, we have the same choice as the mule ….. lie down or work through it. We can depend on our own strength and fail or practice the DIRT principle (Divine Intervention Righteous Triumph).
I want you to notice that the mule did not hesitate or complain when he was placed under the truckloads of dirt. He instantly began to do good. He instantly began to work through the trial. I have to wonder if sometimes we lose the battle in many trials in the first round. We are presented with a trial and we begin to worry, complain, or try to figure it out on our own. We start texting, tweeting, or get on face book. Could the secret to triumph be instant focus? Focus on God and His ability and willingness to work through us. Instantly doing good! Putting the Biblical truths we have heard and know into action! Operating in the DIRT principle (Divine Intervention Righteous Triumph)
2 Timothy 2:15 says “ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
• 3rd: Sometimes We Need to Just Shake Things Off
Now remember there was not one truckload of dirt, but many. Each truckload of dirt presented the opportunity for the mule to fail, but instead he chose to work through it, to shake it off. When the dirt reached the top of the well, the mule just shook the dirt off and walked away a wiser mule. Mission accomplished! What had been intended to bury him only made him stronger. We have the same choices in life each time we face a trial. Wouldn’t we be better off if we operated in the DIRT (Divine Intervention Righteous Triumph) principle and just shook off a lot of things. Instead of allowing situations to take residence in our life we should seek God and through His strength righteously triumph.
We find a similar story of shaking things off in Acts 28:3-5.
When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.
Understand I’m not asking anyone to get bit by snakes and shake them off. You might not work through that. You might be dead! However, spiritually speaking each day we have snakes of temptation that attempt to attach to us. You know that nagging habit, that sin that we continue to stumble in, that flaw that we are working on fixing. Only through divine intervention can we righteously triumph. Immediate action must be taken. Time is not our ally! We have to develop a dependence on the Lord that causes us to immediately turn to Him, and Him only, when faced with a trial.
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit”, says the Lord
• Divine intervention can free us from the bondage of sin and allow us to be a light in a world of darkness. Thus wevgain righteous triumph!
• Divine intervention can heal our body and enable us to live in a victorious way that glorifies God. Thus we gain righteous triumph!
• Divine intervention can give us wisdom in finances and enable us to be disciplined in our spending. Thus we gain righteous triumph!
• Divine intervention can open a door of opportunity and empower us to walk through it. Thus we gain righteous triumph!
• Divine intervention can place us somewhere and equip us to impact it. Thus we gain righteous triumph!
• Divine intervention can give us a message and allow us to share it. Thus we gain righteous triumph!
• Divine intervention can give us a song and allow us to sing it. Thus we gain righteous triumph!
• Divine intervention equips us to do something and by doing it we gain righteous triumph!
Good Timber
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
That stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
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The man who never had to toil
To heaven from the common soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man,
But lived and died as he began.
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Good timber does not grow in ease;
The stronger wind, the tougher trees;
The farther sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength;
By sun and cold, by rain and snows,
In tree or man, good timber grows.
Where thickest stands the forest growth
We find the patriarchs of them both;
And they hold converse with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and of much strife --
This is the common law of life.
