The Rough and Rocky Road...

[saint701]

Hello All,


Blessings!

Preface Part III

As I continue the story of our Lord's long suffering amazing grace in my life, I have to point out that despite the difficulty of our journey the Lord drops in some things to help us keep our faith and not fall completely from away from Him. The things He dropped in for me to hang onto came in the form of personal prophecies still at play in my life today. Without the Lord's foreknowledge of my life I wouldn't be here. I would have quit for good long ago.

Interspersed in among my struggles of the preceding few years I had was given a few prophetic words of encouragement, all of which are still coming to pass as I write. One came by Kenneth Hagin. He said Satan would use my family members against me, but the Lord would restore me such that it would be like living in Heaven for me. He said the Lord would give me a companion that would respond to the Spirit of the Lord. Another came as I sat in church one day that said that I would eat the fat of the land indeed if I was willing and obedient. And a third prophecy came from that same school counselor friend of mine where the witches were. He said I was on a rough and rocky road, that not long and the Lord would put me on a smooth one, that the Lord would comfort me one more time, that at that time I would know I was a man of God, but after that I would have to walk.

These have come to mind at this point in the story because my mother lived on a rough and rocky old country dirt road. I think this is as good a time as any in the story to share them, as without them there really is no explanation for my behavior at times. Point number one is that Satan is allowed to toy with as He wills if our Heavenly Father grants him permission. And just like Job, that old serpent was granted entrance into my life big time, all because I had dared to war with him and win a great victory in glorifying God by suffering persecution.

One would have thought all I had been through would have led me to a complete surrender of my stubbornness and strong self willfulness to God, but just the opposite happened. As I said, I became angry. I look back now and see I had to be held back from ministry at that time. I was one ignorant, immature, head strong, stubborn ol' Missouri mule that still needed 30 years of aging to be fit for the Lord to use Him more than just a tiny bit. Scripture teaches us that when we bear a little bit of good fruit it is the Father than prunes us back.

Besides the prophecies of the Lord by His servants that I received to at least allow me to keep a measure of faith, the Lord also blessed me with Howard O. Pittman. He didn't give me a prophecy, but stood by me the whole time I was going through the trial. A lady Christian friend of mine gave me one of his teaching tapes just as all hedoubletoothpicks was breaking out in Herman, Missouri over my brother John for praying with that school board member's boy. On the teaching tape Mr. Pittman gave out his phone number so that anyone desiring to come give his testimony at their church would give him a call.

I called him hoping the congregation I was a part of would invite him. They didn't, but he befriended me through the phone conversation. After the split with the witch, he began to cry out to the Lord on my behalf to lighten my burden. I tell this story here as his prayers began to be answered on my behalf the day I landed at my mother's house, as was the Lord's will for me to be there. In answer to Howard O. Pittman's prayers the Lord sent an angel of favor into my life and things quickly began to turn around for me as I said.

Almost overnight I was on a bowling team, had a job, was playing basketball with friends. That part was really good. But I was spending far too much time at a local bar drowning the pain and agony of the recent past with boiler makers. One night Wednesday while returning home from bowling I decided to stop into the bar and see who was there. One of my friends from my high school days was sitting at the bar talking to a couple of hell's angels.

I joined them. I really had no fear of them because of my anger. Shortly that bar closed and we went to another one along with the hell's angels.

To be continued...

A few more beers later and I was playing hand slap tag with our nation's not so finest. I whipped 'em! They let that slide while we were in the bar, but dropping them off back at their motel room they invited me in for a night cap. Just a couple of your run of the mill nice guy hell's angel's right? None the wiser, I joined them. And I hadn't even found a place to sit when one of them called their Doberman Pincher and it jumped on me, knocked me flat and began attacking my hands and feet. My hands looked like I had wrestled with a thorn bush! Seeing I wasn't struggling against the beast they called it off me.

The two of them sat on one of their beds and glared down at me like so much dead meat. One of them pulled a double barreled sawed off shotgun out and pointed it at me. The other one pulled an 8 inch blade
from his boot.

I didn't feel any fear, but as helpless as I was, the Lord intervened and I just started crying. Of course that brought further belittlement by my captors, but I still didn't resist by trying to run for the door or shout out expletive deletes in protest. That frustrated them, after berating me again for not jumping on them they let me go. The one with the sawed off shotgun followed me out to my car and continued staring at me with the gun resting across his chest. I resisted a sudden surge of anger and drove away...alive!

That began a period of blessing for me that would last the next 3 years.

To be continued...