Walking into a Warzone, Walking into His Presence...

 "This place looks like a freaking war zone you guys!" You guys, this place is a mess."

There is no such thing as walking into a perfectly clean coffee shop. If you believe that, you are deceived.

 These are the words that I have said a million times over whenever I walk into a bad situation. And what I mean by that is this, there is a long line of people and they just haven't had the chance to get caught up on stocking or cleaning up. There are times when you just can't get out of clocking in early or clocking out late. But there is one thing that you can always count on when working in a coffee shop...you will always walk into a situation that will either make you happy or angry.
 Unfortunately, I always walk into a bad situation. I have many expectations when it comes to how the store should be when I come in and get ready to work. They are not always fulfilled when the store has been busy, but I have learned to be flexible with some things. Many people have that same attitude. It's not the best attitude to have either, but it's not the worst. I once heard a preacher say "blessed are those who are flexible for that shall not be broken."  
 Now you would think that a coffee shop would not be a busy place, but the truth is that it can be a revolving door in the mornings and with the holidays coming up soon, it gets CRAZY!!! When I say that it is literally like walking into a "war zone", I am not kidding. I have see people just get down right mean and rude over a cup of coffee. I mean, what is the point of screaming over a drink that is only going to last for maybe an hour.


"Buckwheat, your just mumbling! What is your point?"


When you wake up, you make a choice. You can either be in the greatest mood or the worst mood. It's not about what side of the bed you woke up on or what is going on in your life. It's about a choice that you make. Me and friend were talking the other day about the things that have happened in our lives. We both experienced something that rocked our world to the core. One of us chose a mindset of walking in the pain and the grief. The other chose the mindset of God. One had a peace "that surpassed all understanding." One had no peace of any sort.


 When my mother passed, I didn't have a relationship with God or His Son. Now, I remember asking God one time to show me if He truly existed. Now, when I did that and God knew that I was serious, He showed up. Now what happened after that is something that I will never forget. When God himself showed Himself to me, I was given the opportunity to go with Him in the sense of Him showing me how to get through this life with the loss that I had just experienced. When you lose someone by murder, there is no handbook on how to deal with it. No one could have ever told me or my family how to deal with that. NO ONE!!! Now, in the midst of my visitation with God, I chose not to accept His help. I was so mad at God, that His help was that last thing that I wanted. I wished that I had walked with Him in the midst of all that.


 I didn't, I walked into THE WAR ZONE...


 What I mean by the "war zone" is that we walk into or without the guidance of the Heavenly Father. So many times we walk in situations and try to lean on our own understanding. We try to figure it out and end up going through things that God does not want us to go through. Now, for years, I have heard people always say "God allows this to happen for a purpose." Sorry for all of you people that believe this, BUT THAT IS A LIE!!! The war zone that I walked through involved depression, suicide, a homosexual lifestyle and eventually homelessness. If you believe that God wanted me to go through all of that just to come out on top and give Him the glory...Sorry, THAT IS A LIE!!! 


 I was given a choice to follow, lean and glorify Him during those times of great sadness. That is the only way that God can be glorified out of a rough situation. God should be glorified in the good times, but even more so during the troubling times. I sit here and think that if I had allowed God to be part of my life, that maybe those things could have been avoided.
 One of my favorite stories in the Bible is that of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Now, they were walking in some dangerous times for the early Christians. The King Nebuchadnezzar had built this statue of himself and told everyone to bow and worship it. Well, these three young men refused not too. So as a punishment to these men, the King ordered the fiery furnace to be heated 7 times hotter than normal. It was so hot, that the guards that threw them into the furnace died instantly. I love what they had quoted from the Book of Daniel, 3:17 "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king."

 Here they were being thrown into a "war zone."  I would like to think that they were a little scared of going through that, but they had already said that God would deliver them from this. They were walking in "His Presence." When you read farther down in the Book of Daniel, it's says that there was a "fourth person" that was like the Son of God standing in their midst. God's Presence had protected them from the fiery death. Can you imagine, being thrown into a furnace and thinking you are going to die? How about Daniel? He was thrown into the Lion's den where people were being fed to the animals themselves. These are just two examples of giving praise to God in the midst of a bad situation.

 Daniel 3:27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

 When they walked out of the furnace, the King had given the glory to Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego's God. He saw that even in the midst of a fiery death, that their praises saved them from being harmed. The Presence of God saved them. The presence of God is so powerful, so strong and so loving, that you are literally lost in Him. When you see that Jesus himself was in the midst of the furnace, that is the same as Jesus being with you in the middle of your fiery furnace. When we sing the praises of the Lord while possibly walking into a bad situation, God can turn that around for you. 

 "Praise Him in the Storm."

I wished that I had known the Son and the Heavenly Father during the time of my mother's death. To experience what I went through is nothing that I would have wished upon my worst enemy. But today, if I face a trial, I purpose myself to praise Him while walking through it. There is nothing in this life that God cannot get you through. 

"NOTHING!!!"

“Well Buckwheat, you don't understand how bad it really is?” I mean it is bad!”



Matthew 19:26  26Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
 
 So the next time you face a trial, tribulation or you feel like you are walking into a "war zone", take a minute or two and give thanks to God for all that he has provided. Ask Him for the wisdom to deal with the situation and walk through this "war zone" by walking in "His Presence."
 
 I love to sing praise and worship songs while I am behind the coffee bar. Depending on the song, it maybe a song of encouragement for some and maybe a song of glorifying Him. Either way, simply give Him the Praise. Simply...