Luck, or positioning? (UPDATED!!!)

Pastor Craig Sloan, (Pastor Tara's husband) has a great blog called "Positioned for Greatness." I want to share for a minute today about being positioned.

I have had people say to me before, "you're so lucky" about certain things in my life. I've been told I'm lucky to have the husband I have. No, I'm not. He's great, but it has nothing to do with luck. I don't believe in luck.

I do believe in divine appointment but also in WISDOM. I didn't just pick him out and go, eenie, meenie, miney moe, catch a husband by his toe... (if he hollers let him go, ha ha!) Um, no...this was a serious decision made with prayerful consideration. You know how the pastor gets up in front of the congregation at a wedding and gives the typical "speech" before the vows and says, "marriage is not something to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly..."? Well, guess what -- I didn't enter into it unadvisedly or lightly, so there's no luck about the matter. Some things, such as choosing a marriage partner, or how you raise your children,or serving God's church can't be left to matters of "luck." I have had countless women who have husbands who are losers boo-hoo to me at an altar in church and say how lucky I am to be married to mine. And I think to myself, "you CHOSE your husband. You MADE THE DECISION TO date an unbeliever or someone who was not spiritually strong, then you MADE A DECISION to become engaged to him, then you CHOSE to marry him, and now you want to call me lucky? Please, there is no luck in the matter, only wisdom and the taking advantage of divine appointment. One must make calculated decisions to hopefully arrive at the destination you desire. You must be positioned for greatness.

I always tell our people at Northside that they need to get in position. If you want blessing, you have to get lined up for it. Let's talk about men again for a minute. Ladies, if you are not married, realize this - you can't be with Mr. Right if you are currently with Mr. Wrong. Mr. Divine Appointment is not going to give you a second look if you are still on Mr. Loser Man's arm. So get with God's program and quit wasting your time on a man who is not worth your time!! Pastor Lisa Alexander often says, "No man is better than a piece of a man." I love that. Some of you just want a man so bad you will settle for anything in a pair of dockers. Please listen to me. No man at all is better than a spiritually unqualified man. Wait for God's best. Don't make a bad decision because you are lonely and longing to get married and then cry about how all your friends are so lucky for God's blessings upon their lives.

If you want to be closer to God you position yourself by spending time with Him in reading His Word, prayer, and worship. You also position yourself by being around others who will encourage you in your faith. Some people think they are going to drop into the house of God whenever they feel like it, on a hit and miss basis, and be blessed. That's not how it works. The Bible says those who are PLANTED IN THE COURTS OF THE LORD WILL FLOURISH.

Parents will allow their kids to drop out of youth services because "they don't feel like going" or "they'd rather play baseball on that night" but then want to rush them to the youth pastor for counseling a year or two later when they find a bottle of alcohol in their closet or they find out they slept with their boyfriend or girlfriend.

Lack of proper positioning is one of people's biggest problems today. Believers want to go to the beach two out of four Sundays a month instead of going to church and then wonder why their family is not blessed. The same people will say, "but we were spending FAMILY TIME." And they just don't "get" why this will not yield a blessing ultimately for their family". (Until it's too late in some cases, unfortunately.)

Your son or daughter can be filled with the Holy Ghost riding the waves at Cocoa beach, but there's probably a greater chance of that happening if you have them in the house of the Lord. Priorities are a big part of positioning. I am finding today more than ever, people need to have this explained. Because they are thinking the are going to position themselves and their family in some other way and still be blessed.

By the way, my kids are normal (well sorta LOL) and they skate, surf, and all just like the rest. But the point is, there are seven days in the week to do things. And on the Lord's day, we give Him honor. On youth group night, being in that service comes first unless there would be very extenuating circumstances. Before you e-mail me and say, "yeah, but you can do all this and your kids can still turn out wrong..." here is my response to that. Would you rather have your kids turn out wrong and have a lot of regrets because you know in your heart you did not put them in the proper position to succeed? Or would you rather have kids who turned out wrong BUT you have no regrets because you honestly did everything God expected you to do for them to walk in the right path? Yes, kids will sometimes still do what they are going to do regardless -- they have a free will BUT -- believe me it's much better if they do to be able to say that you lived such a life as a mother where you put them in proper position. If they choose wrong, your kids will also one day have to look back and say, "my mother/father put me in the proper environment, however I simply chose to disobey." I always tell our people, if you want your family to be blessed, you've got to "get under the spout where the glory's coming out!" Hint: that is not in front of your television watching TV during church on Wednesday nights, or sitting on the beach on a Sunday morning unless your church happens to be having a service there.

There is positioning in marriage. Many women also think they can become mothers and basically neglect their husband's needs for the years while they are raising their kids (many spiritualize it even - saying the kids have become their "first calling now" - never mind that you can't find that in scripture) and then they wonder why their husbands get into some trouble of some sort and they get into a marriage crisis. Again, it's about positioning. You have to position your marriage for greatness too. The call to be a wife comes before the call to be a mother. In Genesis 2:18 God declared our role of helpmate before he ever spoke of our call to motherhood. I would think most people will agree with me that you are supposed to become a wife before you become a mother. (Unless you are a unique case like Michele Danielson where you are a single, unmarried woman who has been directed by God to adopt a child.) So excepting unique cases like this you become a wife first. And you must be true to your call to marriage and keep it first even after you have children, positioning your marriage relationship for blessing.

Why do so many believers think they will move ahead in their life without doing it by the book? Victory does not just fall on you. It doesn't just happen. Victory is not a reward, it's a result.

Nothing in my life is a result of luck. Grace? Absolutely. Divine appointment? Absolutely. Luck? No.

Thankfully you do not have to rely on luck in order to have a blessed life either. All you have to do to have a blessed life is position yourself for it. God is so good to set it up for us that way! So take advantage of it!

p.s. Keep me in prayer. I'm packing my bag and leaving in just a little bit to go to Orlando to speak at Inspire. Teeb is going with me. It's such a beautiful hotel and they provide wonderful accomodations for me, and I like spending the time with him there in between the services and at night. There are also some ladies from Northside attending as well. Pray for us for safe travel and a blessed conference! Great things are in store.