Football Coach Gus Bradley, defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers trains his team to face who he calls, Murphy?
Who’s Murphy? We all know Murphy, don’t we?
We’re in the middle of those difficult and time-consuming projects and this character out of nowhere shows up unannounced and uninvited. His name is Murphy. This cat is so famous, they even named a law after him, called Murphy’s Law.
The definition of Murphy’s Law states: Anything that can go wrong, WILL go wrong!
Gus Bradley trains the LA Chargers to expect Murphy to show up, and show up at the least opportune time – bad weather, flight delay, traffic, any unexpected event that could potentially throw you off your game.
WHEN Murphy shows up, not IF, the team tackles him head on! They don’t wait for him to make the first move, they anticipate him, they prepare for him. Instead of being afraid of Murphy, they choose to engage, face him down, and dismantle him before he even steps out onto the field.
We often refer to the Murphy’s Law when something doesn’t work out. We blame Murphy for a lot of things, but what if we could actually put Murphy to work for us? What if we translated everything Murphy did TO US, as what Murphy does FOR US?
Edwin McManus said, “Greatness is never born from easy circumstances.”
We don’t create a good life, good circumstances, or success from the outside-in, we do so from the inside-out.
Allow me to frame this another way, when it comes to our enemy the devil, it’s not a matter of IF he’ll show up, it’s a matter of WHEN! Like the LA Chargers, we don’t wait for Satan to make the first move, we anticipate him, we prepare for him.
Peter said it this way, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 ESV)
Instead of being afraid of Satan, we choose to be on guard, to engage, face him down, dismantle him before he even gets a chance to step out onto the field!
Just like old Murphy gets the blame for a lot of things, Satan does too. But what if instead of blaming Satan for everything wrong that’s ever happened, we actually started making the devil work FOR US?
Peter goes on to say in verse 9, “Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” (ESV)
In the realm of fitness, resistance equals strength training. What the devil means for bad, God helps us translate into strength and overcoming power! Satan thinks he’s doing this TO us, but in actuality, he’s doing it FOR us!
Joseph was wrongfully sold into slavery by his conniving brothers but through the faithfulness of God, and Joseph’s trust in the dreams God placed in his heart, he eventually became an emperor in Egypt. Listen to how Joseph processed his pain, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Genesis 50:20 ESV)
Don’t be shocked when Satan shows up. He was one of the first uninvited guests to the Garden of Eden. Again, uninvited in the book of Job with the Sons of God. And, he had the nerve to show up in the wilderness after Jesus’ 40-day fast. You can most certainly anticipate he will rear his ugly head in your life as well. Be ready for him. Tackle him when he shows up. It’s often an indication strength and power are destined for your immediate future.
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