How many times I have wanted to give up right on the brink of a huge revelation from my Heavenly Father… too many times to count! I know from the prayer ministry sessions we do and from the many phone calls I receive asking for help and encouragement, that there are countless others out there who feel the same! Oh how we need great encouragers in our lives. I have several and I am eternally grateful to each one of them. They continually encourage me not to give up on the brink of my miracle! The poem below speaks volumes to me and I hope it will to you as well so that you, too, will not quit on the brink of your miracle or revelation from Father! Here’s the poem and then read on for a tremendous testimony we received this past week that illustrates exactly what I’m talking about here!
Don’t Quit!
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but do not quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.
– Anonymous –
To illustrate what I’m speaking about, I want to share with you a powerful testimony that was sent to us this past week from our chiropractors, Drs. Josh and Brooke Pond.
Sometimes the miracle of revelation comes in very strange forms and only after we actively pursue Him. Recently during a discussion with Josh, Roger had the opportunity to share something with him that spoke to his heart. By suggesting to Josh that his troubles might not be the devil but Father, Himself speaking to him, Rog encouraged him to ‘just take some time and pray into the matter and see what Father might have to say.’
Josh did just that and above all, he didn’t quit! He pressed in and below is his unedited testimony of what happened. Congratulations, Josh, and thanks for the permission to use your testimony!
The Key to the Hunt by Dr. Josh Pond
God revealed to me as I tried to take a nap today, that the 2 ‘key’ problems I was having have to do with obedience, or the lack thereof. Two very strange events occurred on Tuesday, May 10th. First, it was close to lunch and I drove the car to Murrells Inlet to the post office. Upon arriving I found that I was unable to turn the key backwards to shut the ignition off. I called my wife Brooke, somewhat panicky, and explained to her what happened. She wasn’t sure what to do either, so I let her go and took the alarm off the keychain and locked our running vehicle while I went in to the post office. I checked the mail and returned to the car, and thinking perhaps this was just some sick joke the car was playing on me, I decided to put the car in drive, then park a few more times and attempted futilely once again to shut the car off – no luck. Well, we had money which needed to be deposited, so I drove to the bank, and did the same thing – locked the running car while I went in to make a deposit. Things got more interesting when I returned to the office: I parked the car around back and locked it (still running, of course) and walked up to the back office door. I put the key in the lock, and wiggled it a bit and it wouldn’t budge. So, I put the key in the top lock, and instead of unlocking the door, the key twisted and broke off while still stuck inside the lock. After a few more moments of panic, I was able to pull the broken key fragment out of the lock. Desperate to get inside, I had to call my wife to come downstairs and unlock the door for me. There is a lot more to this story, but first I want to thank God for using Roger, a patient and dear friend (not necessarily in that order), to point out that this may be more than just the ‘spiritual warfare’ I attribute most calamities to. I took his words to heart, and now, merely one day later, let me share what God is revealing to me thru this….
As I tried to fall asleep, God recalled to me an earlier conversation I had with a patient (not a typical conversation as this was almost completely Holy Spirit led). Speaking through me, God said: “It is our obedience as believers the will manifest in the fruits of the Spirit which will result in the furthering of the Kingdom on this earth.” Then God kept bringing to mind that obedience is the key, obedience is the key, and then everything started falling into place.
In the former situation, where the car key was stuck in the ignition, it was representing the fact that I was going, going, going, and not actually stopping to see if I was actually doing the things I was supposed to be doing; I was burning the candle at both ends and not necessarily doing the most important things; the car key stayed on, it wouldn’t budge backwards, but it would still move forwards – this meant that for me, I could keep doing these same things without the desired result unless whatever was blocking the key was removed. At the dealership, the only way they could stop the car was by pulling the fuse out – God was basically saying that if you don’t change your priorities and focus on Me, I will pull your fuse out and cut your engine. This could mean a drastic decline in physical health, marital problems, financial ruin, loss of business, even death – needless to say, none of these things seemed very appealing to me. Once the fuse had been cut the mechanic had to replace the solenoid, or key ignition system – in essence, this is the activation system that allows the key to unlock the car’s full potential. God was revealing to me that my lack of obedience in taking the time to build my relationship with Him was ‘blocking’ the whole activation of the Holy Spirit’s power in my life. I’ve seen fruits of the Spirit in my life, but not to the extent I believe they should be. And there are spiritual gifts I believe God has put inside me that are waiting to be awakened – I know this. But if I am doing things (or NOT doing the things I ought) that are blocking the Holy Spirit, those things will never manifest in my life unless those obstacles are removed. God was saying that with the right relationship between Father and me, the key can properly fit and I can be activated in the Holy Spirit to a whole new level.
In the second situation with the key breaking, this is analogous to how I get stuck where I am at – I become comfortable, fixated and intent on the same things, inflexible, too concerned about what I want. Similarly to what I said before, this blocks the Kingdom key. And then, when you try to force spiritual things to happen in your timing and your way, things can break – your attitude, your rationale, your methods, your results – they can be unpredictable and even deadly if one is not careful. The solution for my problem was to step back from the door, remove my now-useless key and call on the one on the ‘inside’ to hear my plea and open the door for me. In the spiritual realm it is similar – I have to stop trying to make things happen, take a step back, and kneel myself before God and get my relationship right with Him – for it is He, that will open the door to the next spiritual destination/dimension in my life. In both cases, God had already given me the right keys to use, and he used those keys physically to help me identify what is blocking my spiritual growth. How I thank God for bringing to light this mystery, and I thank the Holy Spirit for being my ‘key activator’ for revealing to me the reason why my spiritual maturity is getting blocked. And I pray that with His guidance I will develop a stronger relationship with Father and see the keys God has hidden in my heart, mind, and soul activated by the Holy Spirit for furthering his earthly Kingdom in a heavenly way. However, the true test – where faith meets reality – is in my willingness to be obedient; and my obedience can only happen when I have a working relationship with Father so that I KNOW what He is telling me to do. And the only way I can get to that place is by spending the time with God in prayer, worship, and the Bible to get to know Him on a whole new level. God will do His part – it is now up to me to rise up, and search Him out – He’s got plenty of jewels awaiting to be discovered….let the hunt begin.