Order of Protection From God: A Prequel

By Exavier Rodgers

This book tells the story of: how one's life, simultaneously guided and sustained by God, could still enter, an in-depth journey, with excruciating hardship & trials to face, throughout an unknown period of time. Mark 1:12, 13 It is the moral climax of depletion; "yet" a story of unyielding faith, that God will have the final say about their life. In a developing story of one "who proclaims to love Christ, to one who truly walks with Christ,' you will witness! Meanwhile; multiple phases of hardship are to occur throughout this book. Then the testing of one's character such as - Love, Patience, Courage, Stewardship, Trust, and Communion - together, are the fruit of the spirit that needs tooling in this spiritual quest. While utilizing the word of God, like others in which you have read about in the Bible, with Parallel similarities, through the main character (Joshua) of this book, matters will take its course. This is the pattern of evidence, for this spiritual tale to be brought forth. Then!!! It can be stated, "God has purified this message, to be used in his perfect Order! Genesis 50:19, 20 But in the present time of reading, (note) that in this purposeful book no-one knows the time or day, that God would complete his pleasing works. So before reading; I urge you to buckle up in prayer, then pack a light spiritual bag & come join me as a witness, on (A Journey, within a Journey of the Wilderness, page #157) that points to everlasting life. It is the absolute adventure, for the adventurous to cling on to, My Book. Titled. "Order of Protection from God" -Brother Exavier Rodgers-

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9781646703067

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

The Conception

The Beginning of an Ending

Entering Our First Night of the Shelter

The Pink Christmas Tree

Opening The Bible

God's Perfect Timing

The Closing of the Doors

Preparation for Bible Study Lattice

A Journey Within a Journey of the Wilderness

The Start of Bible Study Lattice

The Birth

Acknowledgements

Living Wild as a Plant

About the Author

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Order of Protection From God

A Prequel

Exavier L. Rodgers

ISBN 978-1-64670-305-0 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64670-306-7 (Digital)

Copyright © 2020 Exavier L. Rodgers

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books, Inc.

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

The Conception

On July 18, 2012, I began a prayer in the name of Jesus Christ to you, Father who sees all and knows all, and today is the birth of an Order of Protection from God. It took nine months in the wilderness—the same time in which an egg is conceived by woman until the birth of a child—to bring forth the ending of this prequel and the start of the writing this book.

On October 18, 2011, I was removed from what I called home by what is considered a court order of protection. What was so inconceivable about this whole matter was I thought that hardships in marriage are related to trials and tribulations for Christian lives! But here, this day, I would undergo a series of low blows in an enemy-plagued world, and as a child of God, I knew and believed in his word, saying, I will never leave you nor forsake you. I left my home of my own accord, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that a journey has set sail. I knew not the length nor depth of the forcing me from my home—neither I nor my wife could grasp what was taking place—but I knew who did. According to God's promise for those he loves and are called according to his purpose, I then began to drive away from home with sure hope God would reveal to me my destiny. Along with revealing my calling, I hope to be justified and then glorified, by whom I serve as Lord, which is Jesus Christ! Until my faith could be proven, I would be off unto a place far from the norm for me on a journey in the wilderness.

Oh Lord, I cried. How dreadful the thought of that day seems to me. If only I could have prevented that cause and effect, I would not have this testimony. So much has transpired through the laws of an order of protection that the bars of its concept were like the steel of a castle's dungeons. I would have given so much to not have this occur to me, but who am I to overcome what God has allowed for our own salvation? I did not understand what had happened in my life and whether I should be grateful or hateful! So I tried my best to follow the word from above. During those times, I seemed to be lost, so I studied the word by inquiring with the Holy Spirit. Show thyself approve by studying the word of the Bible I believed. The Bible must have been my food because without this word I would have died through this journey, without a chance of eternal life.

I had experienced so many casualties by this point now, but life was promised to me when I stepped forth into this wilderness of a journey. So what must I make of being thrust away from what I called home into this journey of the abyss? I'd thought on an Order of Protection from God.

Lord on High, I can recall so many miracles that have taken place from the first day of atonement. When October 18, 2011, had arrived, all that I had in me was considered hope in the one who gave us all an opportunity to find grace from our father in heaven, who loves us so much that he was born from the womb of Mary and lived thirty-two and a half years on earth faultless so that he might die by the hands of man in order to restore what was once destroyed by sin.

When I drove away from my home in Olympia Fields, forced out by the police department, I thought about who could save me. I realized that all was lost, and it seemed as though no one really cared! I did wrongful acts in my life that could have brought on such a terror to my soul, but in the meantime, I thought, What would I do with the two young ladies that accompanied me in this journey? How is it, I thought, that I could cause my own pain, but what or who is responsible for theirs? I was left to figure out what to do on this rainy afternoon, driving a Mercury Marauder with two young ladies and thirty-eight dollars. I knew that it was a chance no one would believe me in the fact I was innocent of this hideous offense, but how could this be explained! Why must these young nieces of ours suffer for us, or can our nieces be viewed as just as much the blame as I appear to be?

The Beginning of an Ending

In the name of Jesus Christ, on July 18, 2012, I was awakened about 3:30 a.m. to the sounds of God's might through rain, lighting, and thunder. I thought to myself how remarkable it is when God uncovers seasons with such force but in a much-needed situation! I mean that the land has been dry here in Southern Cook County, Illinois, and also dry in my finances, so with His showing of an act in nature, the earth sighed, as well as my soul, because only He which is God in heaven understood what is needed to take place for all existence as a whole.

Jesus Christ, our savior, made a conscience decision to offer freely an opportunity for all of us to make peace with God. But these are the thoughts that I had on the day of October 18, 2011, how it rained day and night as I and the two young ladies who are my nieces were thrust into the wilderness of Southern Cook County, Illinois. That day rained constantly like this day, and I could not accept what had happened to us at that point, so I kept repeating to myself, How could God have let this happen? Or does he have a meaning to this disaster that I claimed to take place at this particular moment.

Upon leaving home, my first destination landed me at my brother-in-law's home. It was there I would share the first revealing of what took place to my nieces and me earlier that day. As I explained to my brother-in-law, he listened carefully to my heartfelt situation, but he more so agreed with my truth when he saw the involvement of my nieces. Puzzled at such an incident, my Brother-in-law was, because the accused of this matter happened to be his sister, I then looked into my brother-in-law's eyes and saw his compassionate side and the following grief of how he could be emotionally involved by just being a brother or a brother-in-law. I sat there, hoping he would have some type of antidote for the madness of a storm that caught me by surprise, and after rubbing his head and eyes as though he's trying to awaken my brother-in-law came up with the idea to phone bone of my bone my wife.

My brother-in-law made the call by phone to the unexplained of our welfare, and as I sat near, hoping that he would break the spirit of separation between me and my wife, I was even more saddened to hear his tone of voice. Wow! What just took place in conversation that he had with my wife, his sister, broke out into a verbal fight, I recall him asking her not to use strong language while talking to him about his concern for me and my nieces to later witness a disconnection while stating! What do the kids have to do with any of this affair?

At that point, my brother-in-law dropped his head in confusion as he appeared to be caught between love for the accused by me and the welfare to do what's right. His eyes displayed this to me as well as me overhearing him speaking to the accused on the phone. I then realized that I brought the same pain which I was receiving into his home, and I knew, man to man, that I had to leave. The time was 9:30 p.m., and I thought to myself that there was a shelter nearby, and the doors close at 10:00 p.m., so I weighed my options quickly, knowing I only had thirty-eight dollars. It was then I made my decision to leave my brother-in-law's home and start toward the nearby shelter, but just before mentioning my departing from his home, my brother-in-law offered us a stay for that night. My thoughts raced fast at that moment because my steps were already ordered, but I accepted with appreciation and began to look forward to the next day. Later that night, my brother-law came to me with a dire straits offer to go live in a UN-occupied rental property of his that was located approximately thirty minutes away. I thought at first that it was really sweet of him to only remember that the accused to my homelessness is the property manager of that property, and if I recalled correctly, the property happened to be in foreclosure. I would thank my brother-in-law for the offer, but I did not express any further of what I felt about all that had happened because so much had taken place that I could not believe anything at this moment. All I really wanted to do was lie down and sleep and wake up the next day with this all being a bad dream, and at this point, I would exit to the room that was offered to me for rest on the night of October 18, 2011.

This night was the first night I remember thinking, How will I wake up when I can't even sleep?

While upstairs in the bedroom, I did know that God is everywhere and in everything, so if I seek him, I would be rescued from this horrifying event, but I would spend the entirety of the night in thought of being saved from what seemed to be a strenuous, heartfelt situation of such characteristics that ripped apart a family or home! Not long after, morning arrived, and that was the first night of many I spent during this order of protection with no sleep and unresolved issues. Morning took its place in my brother-in-law's home, and everyone prepared for work or school, so in order to keep structure for us, I made sure that my nieces continued on with school. My nieces, Carol and Susan, attended a nearby school named RCHS, one as a senior, and the other, a sophomore with possibility of being a senior next year, depending upon a successful year this tenure. We all departed from my brother-in-law's home, but not without thanking him for his support. That's when I realized that once we left his home, we were never to have support from him on this matter ever again. I then drove away in my Mercury Marauder which I kept after losing everything else, but it was the spiritual detachment that mostly affected my conscience, even though the truth would better suit my will to survive in this wilderness that I'm riding off into.

After dropping the kids off to school, I watched them walk away from the car to see if fear resided in them, but I notice no signs of it. I then began to follow my instincts for survival with only thirty-eight dollars, a car, some clothes, and a Bible. I wondered who would take me in, and to my remembrance, there came to mind a shelter! Now, in the Bible, it speaks of how God shelters his people, but in the world, shelter means poverty, homelessness, no loved ones, a last resort before jail or death. With all the descriptions I shared about the shelter, I trusted in the one source that rules all, and that was the love of Jesus Christ and the sword of protection that I left home with in my heart. With that in mind, I said, Shelter, make space for us because here we come.

While the girls were safely off to school, I enquired of the shelter's exact location, which was in Country Club Hills, Illinois. The premises that housed the homeless was located in the basement of a church. Strangely though, it was separated into male and female locations. I thought to myself, How could I separate from my nieces when I have not fully explained the circumstances? So before I came to that point, I prayed and asked God if he would protect us in this matter, and if this was not the right decision, to stop us before we started out, but until then, I believed this was him leading me, so my steps were already ordered.

Entering Our First Night of the Shelter

I drove the girls, my nieces, to their women's location, then I made sure all was legitimate and, afterward, drove over to the men's shelter location in my Mercury Marauder. Once there, I would sign in while displaying my identification, and then enter, we did, God and I. The rules that applied in the shelter seemed irrelevant, but indeed, I would later realize that the rules were just as stated. The shelter I chose was called an IHP site, which happened to be the closest location between me and the site my nieces were at, but in contrast, it's a shelter that has standards in which you must keep in order to remain at what is considered a privileged location and fast track to recovery of finding a home.

My purpose for this site was location only, but I stayed there that night with only the clothes on my back and Bible in hand. Being here seemed different but organized. I mean, you are offered dinner upon arrival and then someone else would help prepare a place for sleep, all at the same time, though I knew no one there, I felt strangely relaxed. Later that night, after eating a meal, I was approached by an employee from Grand Prairie Services. She was doing assessment intakes for the homeless. After meeting the lady social worker, I thought to myself that it was her who needed assistance because she seemed naïve which makes her vulnerable in this type of environment. She began to express concern for me and my welfare, so I felt a sense of comfort that involved me to share my circumstances with the social worker, I told her that a storm had come through my home, ripping flesh from my bone, my wife, to separate, thrusting me and my nieces who, like me, are originally from Florida, into the wilderness of Southern Cook County, Illinois. For some reason, I believed that the social worker took my story as truth by the way her eyes glanced up and down at me and then pausing a second at my ring finger where a plethora of diamonds were displayed, knowing that most homeless people do not wear diamonds as I did.

The social worker and I would share some stories about our lives, then shortly after, 10:00 p.m. arrived, and what this meant in the shelter was lights off according to the rules that applied, the social worker explained to me. I thought to myself, Wait, miss, I just got started talking! But I complied so I would not cause any confusion. My first night here in the shelter, I was left wide awake and wondering what I was to do while I was here.

Then came a voice, an idea some would call it, and it stated, Read your Bible. Increase in what you love doing. Do not let this time in the shelter pass in vain. I would agree with the notion to read, so I read the Gideon Holy Bible all through that night until morning.

I would arise with the rest of the guys here in the shelter and follow their lead of what to do before finding my own way. Suddenly, a young man named Kevin who resided in the shelter approached me. He started giving me tips on how to get settled in here, so I listened closely, but more importantly, I watched him carefully. Kevin would later state to me why he was offering me assistance. He said I appeared to be out of place in a homeless shelter.

I replied, Have you been watching me?

He explained that when he witnessed me talking to the social worker from Grand Prairie Services the night before, he took notice of me then. I thought to myself it was not me he noticed, according to the signs, but actually, it was the social worker that caught his interest, and I was aware that I was in an unfamiliar setting, so I must read carefully the clues in this wilderness of a journey with an order of protection from God.

I had known at this moment the start of a full circle was taking its course as I prepared to make my departure from the shelter at 7:00 a.m. Kevin would further advise me where I could reside for the next eleven hours before returning to another shelter at a different location, since the shelter sites changed daily. I would hear Kevin out about where I could go to seek shelter throughout the day, and after picking my nieces up from there shelter location and taking them to school again, I drove to what is called a day site shelter location.

The day site location is set up like a group home for the homeless in the day hours. It provides you with attention from social workers and a place out of the cold until the night sites open their doors. It was there in the day site where I came in contact with Kim #1. She was passing by me and asked, How may I help you?

I replied, There are many people here before me. Why do you feel I could be helped before them? I did not choose to be harsh with Kim 1, but what I wanted to test was if her words were sincere.

Kim 1 replied, Everyone needs help, but only a few make the most of it, while standing before me and looking into my eyes, and in my spirit, I felt that Kim 1 was going to be just fine with me.

Later in the day site, I came into contact with Kevin, who I met the night before in the shelter. He said to me, I see that you follow directions quite well.

I thought to myself, Who portrays being homeless? And if this is what I must do to survive, then there is no room for embarrassment or pride in my book. I would exploit the urgency of my need by being here. Kevin and I would later have some interesting conversations with each other. He would share with me the reason why he was here in the homeless shelter! Kevin told me that he had been living in the streets, doing drugs, and causing shame to himself and family, but during the winter seasons, even a drug addict knows to seek shelter, even if you destroyed the trust of your family. I said to Kevin that I am originally from Miami, Florida, and I did not know the importance of a shelter in the north, but I came to discover why such an organized facility exists. There, in Pad's day site, as it was called, the homeless people such as myself had to give a one-day notice before doing laundry, and as for showers, you were allowed fifteen minutes apiece starting at 7:00 a.m. until around 9:30 a.m. The rules seemed pretty fair. Besides, beggars can't be choosers is the old saying, for all that's worth, so adapt I would.

The day proceeded into what was considered a smoke break at 11:00 a.m., and it would become stagnating to me who did not smoke, and through it all, I still believed all of this was a dream. I would gather my thoughts and say to myself, I could make more happen for me than just sitting here doing nothing, but my conscience said to me that my patience would be very important for my chances at survival in this journey in the wilderness of Southern Cook County, Illinois. I sat still in what was like a classroom in a school desk, trying to think positive, and then, that voice would speak to me again, and it said, Read your Bible. I agreed to read, and it just so happened that my Bible was right beside me. After hours of reading the Bible, I thought to myself how reading this book took your mind off your surroundings and gave you hope in a place you have not seen. Just feeling this breath of life renewed a relationship from a boy to a man.

The day ended at the day site while being patient and letting the Bible pass time for me. I thought, but actually, I appeared to be growing in knowledge of the word from my Father in heaven who knows all along what is needed in my life and at what time I would accept it. I departed from the day site in my Mercury Marauder to the Highschool and pick up my nieces. Upon arrival, seeing their faces as they approached the car, I would glance into the rearview mirror to look at myself and make sure I showed no signs of fear or stress before them. The girls, my nieces, entered the car, and they both said, Hello, Uncle.

I replied, What is going on?

To hear them say, Nothing much, I asked how was school?

Carol replied, Good!

I thought how do I explain what is happening in this already existing problem we're facing? I started speaking calmly about the matters to my nieces by saying, Look, girls, we are going through a storm right now, and I need you guys to be strong, and yes, it looks like we could be in a shelter until this storm blows over.

They both looked at me innocently and replied with a very simple, OK.

I would think to myself as I began to drive away from the school parking lot that these young nieces of mine appeared to handle this matter better than me! Wow, who is really the tough one here? I guess we all displayed courage at this point.

So our destination was explained and the course was set for me and my nieces. With God on our side, the routine would continue from previously. First, drop the girls off at the women's shelter and then to the male location for me, and by there being more than one to choose from, I would decide on the one that had the shortest distance between both male and female locations. From school to the public library and then the shelter. This continued until Friday, October 21, 2011.

That Friday, I had to figure out a different strategy because I worked weekend nights, and there was no school for my nieces during that time. I began to pray to God for guidance. I would ask God for my next move to make. I had no solution at this point. Where shall my nieces go? I would meditate until I received an answer! That answer was given, stating to take my nieces to the shelter, watch them check in, and then drive to work and get dressed in my Mercury Maurder. Now that I figured everything out, away I went.

Once at work, I would continue with my routine as though I had no personal problems in my life, none whatsoever, but truly, working keeps me focused and thriving. The only problem that worried me then was where would I go when I get off work at 3:00 a.m. with two nieces in a shelter that happened to be co-ed on a Friday night. I then heard that voice again say to me, Just calm down, this road will get even tougher, but do not worry, you and your nieces will be just fine.

Instead of relaxing, all I could think of was the fact this road would get rougher. I believed that this road was too rough for me now, but little did I know what would be up ahead! At my job, I worked as a waiter, host, busboy and, sometimes, as a bartender. I would frequently interact with the customers, which helped me to stay spiritually upbeat, having people of all walks of life enjoy my conversation and wondering why I was so positive. My reason was simply because my Lord, Jesus Christ, wanted me to be. That is when the guests would agree with me on that notion and the start of new relationships began to take place. My night would end at work, and then I thought where would I to go at 4:00 a.m. now that the shelter has closed its doors since 10:00 p.m. Oh well, I guess I will sleep outside in the parking lot in my car of the shelter location for a couple of hours until 6:00 a.m., which is the time I would reunite with my nieces, so off I went to experience my first night of sleeping in my Mercury Marauder?

Once there, sleeping in the parking lot, I was awakened in my car by what appeared to be a man knocking on my window, and as my eyes began to clear, I realized that it was