Because I have been following a direction from God (I believe) to “Document the Journey” of my life in this season, it seems many of these chapters have arisen from conversations that I have had with people that God later gives me instruction or a download into my spirit regarding some application to my own life experiences.

I had a few hours this week to talk with a friend of mine who is a pastor and motivational speaker on a drive back from Paducah, Kentucky .  While driving, my medical retirement from Law Enforcement came up. I told him, “Even though I knew my season in Law Enforcement was coming to an end, it is still difficult for me (now years later) because of HOW it ended, ultimately because it did not end on my terms.  Even though God has taken and worked it all together for my good, I can’t help but feel like I was robbed…”

This conversation took place two days ago and this morning while making coffee I had a flashback to that conversation.  Then, I heard my pastors’ voice in my mind and a quote that he will often say in reference to his family and our church… “We don’t ever lose anything…We sow it…”

For those who do not understand the context of that quote, what he is referring to is that some people have a victimization mentality as it pertains to what has been taken from them…Instead, the way he chooses to view life is that he doesn’t allow things to be stolen, taken or lost…Instead he chooses to sow those things…Now, here is why that mentality is beneficial…

For years I have heard pastors say, “What the devil has stolen from you, he must return 7 fold” (Referencing Proverbs 6:31)… Which is a good thing to stand upon and believe for…I mean, a 7 fold return is a good return no matter what system of math and accounting that you are using… BUT, when you understand the law of “Seed, Time and Harvest” when seed is SOWN the return is 30, 60 and 100 fold (referencing Mark 4:20).

Mark 4:20 (Amplified Bible)

20And those sown on the good (well-adapted) soil are the ones who hear the Word and receive and accept and welcome it and bear fruit–some thirty times as much as was sown, some sixty times as much, and some [even] a hundred times as much.

So, the minimum return on what is sown is at least 23 times more that the return on what is allowed to be stolen or taken…From a victims perspective, there is a 7 fold return, from a sowers perspective there is at least a 30 fold return…

Now, it doesn’t change the fact that something was taken or stolen, but, from this perspective, the source of the return is different based upon how you perceive and choose to receive.  If you place the demand on the thief, then the thief pays back 7 fold…If you give it to God and allow Him to use the circumstances and SOW it into the lives and kingdom of God…then, GOD repays on the seed sown… It’s a pretty intense perspective…

As all of this flew into my mind at the speed of thought today, I immediately went to the words of Jesus in two separate scriptures.  The first was instruction given in Luke 6:29 pertaining to how we should handle offense and disrespect…

Luke 6:29 (The Message) 27-30

“To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, gift wrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.” Another version of this scripture that is commonly quoted is “Turn the other cheek” …

Is this WHY Jesus was saying what he said in this chapter…? Is he saying, Don’t let ANYTHING be taken from you… SOW IT because the return is so much greater for the seed sown…Is He saying, if you allow anything to be TAKEN then the only return is what you demand… if someone strikes you in the face, and you strike back, then that fulfillment of fighting back is your return…IF you give them the other cheek, now you have sown, not allowing anything to be taken and are choosing to allow God to repay you for the seed sown…If someone takes your coat…You can demand your coat back with interest or you can give them your shirt as well, at which point, they have no longer stolen from you, but you have SOWN into them!  It is an interesting consideration for me…

The next scripture that popped into my head was Jesus speaking in John 10:18 where He says, “No one can take my life… I lay it down voluntarily…”

Upon consideration of what was being revealed, I believe that Jesus was actually modeling the very lesson that was relayed in Luke 6 saying, “You can’t take from me what I am willing to give…It will be sown by me before I ever allow you to steal from me and void the greatest portion of harvest!”

When things are stolen, the thief is given the glory of having victoriously overpowered and taken something from you…When it is sown, God gets the glory as the one who richly blesses and returns handsomely on all that we have sown into His kingdom…

As I considered this today, in a moment’s time, my paradigm changed… My career and money and time and insurance was not stolen from me… I choose to sow it!  I choose to put it in Gods hands and allow Him to multiply it to the Nth degree as He takes all of the circumstances and all of the hurt and all of the frustration and all that was attempting to destroy me and multiplies it by accelerating my growth, increasing my potential, compounding my favor and placing me above and not beneath because my return doesn’t come from the one who stole from me… Vengeance is not mine, it’s Gods… I don’t want a return from a thief, I want a return on INVESTMENT from the seed that I choose to have sown in this past season of my life…I want my return to come from the blessing of God!

I’m not a victim…I’m an investor… Even these chapters of this book are fruit of that investment… If any of them have helped you or if any ministry that has come through me in this season has benefited you…Then, you are recipients of that seed sown…

No more victim mentality… I sow it voluntarily for the furthering of the Kingdom of God and the progress of my family!  God is FAITHFUL!!!

If you can dig it…Say Word!

AFTER THOUGHTS:

After reading some of the comments left both publicly and privately about this chapter there are a few things that I would like to point out.  Each person is in a different place having experienced completely different circumstances,  This chapter is about me, my circumstances, how I have navigated them, what I have learned from them (and more specifically how I think that they would directly affect me based upon how I continued to navigate them..) and how it may apply to others in similar or parallel circumstances…

I have had time to heal…The wounds are not as fresh…The pain is not as pronounced as it once was and definitely not as severe as others have experienced.  Recognizing this, I realize that what is said in this chapter may not be compltely applicable to everyone on every level in every circumstance or every situation and it is not intended to be insinuated as such.  It is certainly not a “blanket” that covers all aspects of all levels of pain and/or abuse…As I stated before, this is about me documenting MY journey and lessons that I am learning along the way as it pertains to my circumstances… If you can derive some wisdom and/or direction from what is writen…GREAT… If not, that’s ok too…

Still, with that said, I do believe that, when taken in context, it can parallel many lives on many different levels depending on where a person is at in the healing process.  I understand that some may not feel that it is applicable in their parrticular circumstance and in that event, this chapter may be something to put on a back burner and re-apply when they are in a  different position.

This is simply an example of how I believe God spoke to me as it pertained to my situation…and I believe that there is probably “something” that can be taken from it and applied to nearly everyones life in some capacity or at some juncture, even if they do not believe that it is applicable to every circumstance…Whatever the case… I’m confident that it is worth pondering…and applying where applicable…