The Divine Prescription

THE DIVINE PRESCRIPTION

Ps. 37:1-7

INTRO.- ILL.- A little boy went into a grocery store and asked the clerk for a box of Duz detergent. The clerk said, “What do you need the detergent for?” The little boy replied, “I want to wash my dog.” The clerk said, “Well, son, that Duz detergent is pretty strong for washing a little dog.”

The little boy said, “But that’s what I want.” The clerk said, “Well, okay, if you’re sure. But you need to be careful when you wash your dog in it. That Duz detergent is very strong. It might kill him.”

About a week later the little boy came back into the store and the clerk recognized him and asked, “Son, how’s your dog?” The little boy said, “He’s dead.” The clerk replied, “Oh, I’m sorry, but I told you that Duz detergent was awfully strong and that it might kill him.”

The little boy shook his head and said, “I don’t think it was the Duz detergent that killed him. I THINK IT WAS THE RINSE CYCLE THAT GOT HIM.”

Brethren, 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 have come your way.

Honestly, 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 or some terribly negative thing.

ILL.- Here’s just one example. 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 “hunky dory” for him in life. NOT SO! Several years ago I heard Leroy preach at the North American Christian Convention and 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. And no doubt, his son had experienced it too and found that he couldn’t cope with it and therefore, took his own life.

ILL.- One time a 30-year-old woman, an industrial designer, masqueraded as an elderly woman for three weeks. She said she wanted to see how it felt to be old in America. AND WHAT SHE LEARNED WAS HEARTBREAKING. She was robbed, insulted, and frightened by a world that isn’t easy on its elderly folks. Many elderly people are experiencing the “rinse cycle” of life.

BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE!

If you don’t believe me, go back read the story of Job again. There was not a better man than Job but he got “pooped on” big time. He experienced the “rinse cycle” in a big way.

And all through the Scripture we read about God’s people experiencing the “rinse cycle” in life.

Why do these things happen? They happen for several reasons:

1- Bad things happen to us in life because the devil is a real, evil spiritual being who is out to get us. He tried to get Job to curse God and die by dumping on him, but it didn’t work.

We all must be aware that the devil is real. He is evil. He is a spiritual being. He is powerful. And he is out to get us!

I Pet. 5:8-9 “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around...looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in your faith...”

ILL.- 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?”