When I was in the military there was this thing called Misuse of Government Property, which, for abbreviation purposes, we’ll call MGP. MGP basically says that it, whatever “it” may be, is not yours so don’t act like it is. You don’t have the right to do with it as you will, or take it where you want, or even make it look the way you want it to look. This included any equipment they issued us like M16’s, sleeping bags, uniforms, vehicles. etc. I’m sure there is more to it than that. To be honest, I’m not even sure this is what MGP really is, or that it really existed, but that’s how I remember it. They would also tell us that this included every person as well. In other words, it refers to our bodies and what we did with them. If we did something to jeopardize our ability to be used by the government we were liable for it. So basically, when we signed on the dotted line with the big X, we no longer belonged to our parents, our spouses, or ourselves, but instead to the U.S. Government.
Recently I was contemplating my life and ministry and what was on the horizon for both. I was lost in a daze when a scripture came to my mind that I had read several times before, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” I started to think about how when I made Jesus the Lord of my life I really signed my will away to His just as I had with the government. So now instead of MGP (G- Government), it’s now MGP (G-God).
I won’t go into detail about my time in the military, or how I broke the governments MGP. I will share with you how I break God’s MGP. The other day I was working at Walmart, feeling down about life and was having a bit of a pity party! I wanted to feel sorry for myself because I recently decided to stop traveling the country and attend school for another year. Everything was working out until it came time to pay tuition and I didn’t have it. I prayed, believed, confessed, and every other trick I had up my sleeves, but nothing changed. I didn’t have the money. I decided to hold off a year, get a job, and save money so I could start again next fall. Third shift at Walmart is where I found a job. So in the middle of the night I started this little pity party. I felt like my life wasn’t going anywhere, like I was stagnant and dying out. After all, I have a ministry and I do cool things for God, but now… not so much! So in the middle of all this pity party’n it hit me that no matter how I may feel I am where God told me to be. I am right smack dab in the middle of God’s will for my life and to be doing anything else is me being guilty of MPG. Somehow it gave me comfort to remember that I was in the will of God and no matter how much I didn’t like my current situation, it was what it was, and until I finish school there is nothing I can do to change it.
It’s really amazing what a few years will do for spiritual maturity. If it had been a few years ago I would quit the job and find something that made me happy. I would have ignored God and chose a path of self-satisfaction and personal comfort. I would have chosen something that paid a bit more and was less repetitive. And in the end I would have ended up in a worse place spiritually, mentally, and financially. What it boils down to in my life is that if I do not do what God wants when He wants it I end up misusing His property and getting myself into a ton of trouble that I could have otherwise avoided. I would have followed my feelings and what I could see instead of what I knew to do.
I’m sure this is why we are told in the Bible to “… walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7. In other words, we are to walk by our spiritual instincts instead of our head instincts. This has always gone contrary to my head. In many cases I have ended up doing what my head wanted and put myself into a huge hole. Still thinking with my head I start digging and the hole only gets deeper. Once you’re in a hole the worst thing you can do is start digging, it always makes things worse; it always has in my life. I am now starting to learn that once I realize I am in a trouble situation to stop doing whatever it is causing the trouble. For instance, if I am in financial trouble I stop spending. If I am in physical trouble I stop doing what is causing the pain. And when I am in spiritual trouble I stop thinking with my head and start thinking with my spirit inside.
In most cases, the hole that I put myself in is self-inflicted and avoidable. It is caused by a series of bad decisions to do with my life as I choose instead of letting my life become what God chooses. I become the master of my own destiny instead of letting the true Master of my destiny win out. To many this seems crazy, but I know God will tell us each step we need to make. I know that He will guide us through His Spirit what to do next and we won’t need to rely on circumstances to be led into the right place. The sad truth about circumstance leading is that it has all the potential to destroy, or even kill us, before we get to where God needs us to be. God told us He would not leave us abandoned to ourselves and I know it is because if He did we would make the wrong choice every time.
My encouragement to you is to not be guilty of MGP with God, but instead, get a hold of His plan and run with it. Stay close to Him during every step of your life. He has purchased us with a price, the price of His Son, and He does care for us in a way we cannot possibly understand with our mind. After all, we do belong to Him.