God backs up his word (following God Does Not Mumble)

Truly, most of us desire to hear the voice of God.  If God really does still speak to his people, we want to make sure he speaks to us!  And we want to make sure we know it when he speaks.  So, how can we know that the thing we heard, and think is from God, is really from him? 

-It will be consistent with his Word

-Other believers will affirm it

-It will not be a mean, condemning voice, but a guiding one

-Does it express his mind, his character, or his purposes?

It might come through:  Scripture, other Christians, circumstances, situations, dreams, etc.

So, after having been told by my Christian friend that she really believed that I did not belong in Long Beach, and that it seemed like a diversion – I queried of the Lord myself  – ‘what is your will for me in continuing my Long Beach ministry?’  Within four days, he said something like this to me: ‘If you are mainly providing food and clothes in Long Beach, other people can do that…there are plenty of social agencies in that town.  Weigh the spiritual fruit.’ 

And so I did.  Even before I loaded my car the following morning, I started taking stock of the people’s lives in which I have been intimately involved for many months.  I considered what had gone on during the two weeks I recently missed when my son was in the hospital—was there no staying power if I was not physically on hand??  What about their personal commitments to God?  Were they only of value when I was in town?  I really had to be honest about it all.

And so I thought—gosh, what about the fella, a former 18^th-Street gang member and long-time convict, who called crying for a one-week loan for some bills?  Yes, I required proof of the bills, and then gave him the money to cover them—he took to the streets, and within days was telling people we were involved in an illicit affair.  Hmmm . . . no matter that I had given him a beautiful study Bible just months before, something went south.

And then there was the recent day when Dr. B showed up late with a ‘friend’ in tow—who interrupted my teaching to ask for a signature on his court-mandated meeting card … when I refused, saying ‘this isn’t A.A., and besides you’re leaving,’ he turned to the next guy, and totally disrupted the message.  Duke and Tex showed him to the door; unfortunately, once on the other side of the door, the fella took a swing at Duke—big mistake—and Duke put him to sleep.  In a matter of minutes, Dr. B—one of my dearest LB friends for 14 months, turned on me—blaming me for what had gone on, rather than taking responsibility for the conduct of his out-of-order friend.  From there, he went around LB, telling people I no longer had the right to preach the gospel in that town. Then he gave the other guy my phone number, and he has called threatening to sue me.

While these things disturbed me, they did not dissuade me or pull me from my mission—that is, until I felt the Lord directed me to think again.  And so, after his word to me about weighing the fruit of the ministry, I jumped in the front seat of my Escalade, next to Barb, last Tuesday morning.  I explained my thoughts and prayers, and told her I was making the 60-mile drive, mindful that I was holding LB in an open hand, ready for direction.

If anyone should have had a transformed heart, it should be the Duke of Earl.  We had loved him back to the Lord; I had walked alongside him, spending hours navigating the VA system to get him off the street and into an apartment; he had accompanied me psychiatric hospital visits and visits to infamous Lincoln Park.  But what did I find that Tuesday morning, when I was looking so intently for God’s leading?  Duke barely fit in the car, with his obtuse, offensive attitude!  I suppose the details are unimportant now, but suffice it to say, I pulled my car over, and he got out.  I doubt I will ever see him again.  By day’s end, he texted that he wouldn’t be seeing me again, and renounced any faith in Christian stuff, saying ‘he didn’t believe in God no more’.   Heartbreak.

Here’s the thing—I asked God to give me direction on continued ministry in LB … he did.  It broke my heart, but I truly believe he let me know definitively on Tuesday that my LB time is over.  **When you are asking God for wisdom and direction, and circumstances bring things clearly to light, you cannot just dismiss them as happenstance.  Timing is everything.

How thankful I am for the strides I made with the gospel, the dear ones I met and now love in Long Beach, and those I was able to walk out of darkness and into light.  (There were several)  I am thankful to those who supported the ministry, and for those who went and ministered with me—especially my dear Barb.  Tomorrow, I go to say ‘good bye’.

The unfolding of your words gives light. Psalm 119.30 And then you back your words up for our understanding.  Thank you, Lord.

Christine

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