Wayward Warrior: Revival of the Resisted

By Justin King

Have you ever felt worthless or disassociated based on your history or know someone who has? This book draws from the well of one Israel’s most prominent but least publicized judges. Discover how God uses those who submit to Him despite what others may suggest of their potential. One young man was named by the writer of Hebrews alongside t

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Mar 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781640886735

Justin King

Registered Life Planner® and coach Justin King is one of the UK's most qualified independent financial advisers. Motivated by helping people find fulfilment, he supports others to take control of their lives and thrive in retirement. Justin is the co-author of 'Ready, Steady, Retire! Plan Your Way to Success in a Redefined Retirement' and host of The Retirement Café Podcast and his YouTube channel, Justin_King. Discover more at www.theretirementcafe.co.uk.

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His Purpose > My Plans

You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.

—Proverbs 19:21 (NLT)

Reunion Reflection

We recently survived the Y2K scare. This was the hyped-up event where everyone thought computers would crash rolling from 1999 into 2000. People were withdrawing their cash from banks for fear of losing it based on this millennium bug. I remember vividly planning to have my own personal Y2K crash at my friend’s house. All of us were enjoying the night and discussing what would happen at midnight. I knew what was going to happen. I knew because I would be the Y2K activator. While everyone was partying and hanging out, I was casing the house. I found the breaker box with the main power disconnect to shut off all power to their house in the garage. It was on! At approximately 11:59:30 CST, my friends started counting down from thirty. As they got lower in number, I retreated unnoticed closer to the breaker. As they yelled in unison, Three…two…one…! Click! I shut the power off. Pandemonium ensued for approximately thirty seconds until they noticed that none of the neighbor’s lights were off. This was the prank of the millennium! Thankfully, we survived the millennium scare.

Several years after this Y2K hype, I began eagerly anticipating my invitation to our ten-year high school class reunion. I was curious to see where everyone was in their life, meet their families, and catch up with everyone. Social media was in full effect. I started noticing on Myspace (Yes, Myspace! Facebook wasn’t the hip thing yet.) that other classmates were also trying to figure out what the plans were going to be for this monumental event. The wheels started turning only to discover shocking news. In the mid-1990s, we had class favorites, student government association (SGA), and class officers. Tradition had always been that the class officers led by the class president would organize and plan the reunion. This is where the ball was dropped because our class president couldn’t plan these events and communicate with the other officers while being incarcerated. What! One of the most responsible eighteen-year-olds in our senior class became incarcerated for drug-related charges?

I was the one who should have been in jail. After all, I was the one who abused drugs in high school. Here I was, twenty-eight years old and delivered from drugs by the grace and power of God. I was currently active in ministry for the kingdom of God. This person who had so much in front of her got caught up in this lifestyle. I was preaching Sunday mornings in juvenile detention centers and on a local radio show while this brilliant young lady was waking up behind bars? There is a scripture that really displays how God uses people like me.

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty (1 Cor. 1:27, KJV).

God knows I was fool for earthly things so when I encountered Him, He knew I’d become a fool for Christ. It just didn’t seem right that a smart and pretty girl with goals and ambitions much higher than mine would succumb to the same evil desires that I struggled with early in life. After all, my goals were set pretty low during adolescence, so low that when asked by my girlfriend during my senior year what did I plan on doing after graduating, my answer was simply work. Had it not been for a near-death encounter during Christmas break that senior year, I probably would have never even left my city. It was that experience joined with wise counsel that prompted my delayed entry into the United States Army upon graduation.

Solomon, the wisest man in history, penned this awesome scripture in Proverbs 19:21 (NLT), You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. The class president did not plan on getting involved with drugs, just as I didn’t in high school. At some point, we all have deviated from the Lord’s purpose for our lives. Jephthah, the subject of this book, was purposed by God to be a judge over Israel, just like I was purposed to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom. I’m glad to report that our class president was not incarcerated for our twenty-year reunion and has experienced recovery from drugs. My prayer is for them to allow God to use them for His message, just as He did for me, by turning my history into His story.

Derails Should Never Equal Denials

We all experience bumps in the road and detours that slow us down. The key, as we will learn from Jephthah, is to not to allow our detours and delays to result in derails and denials. Stay on track. Fall down seven times, but get back up eight times. Just as God didn’t lead the children of Israel through the most direct route from Egypt to the promised land, many times God will lead us the long way to ensure we don’t go the wrong