The Living and Powerful Word of the Lord in Action

During the early days of our broadcast transmission at the radio station it was not unusual on a very windy day to experience intermittent problems with our signal.  It was as though there was a loose connection somewhere in the system causing it to cut in and out but it was not something obvious, which made it all the more difficult for our technicians to try and solve.  Coupled with that problem, being a volunteer organization we could not expect our technicians to be at our beck and call simply whenever we wanted them -windy day or otherwise.

I present two programs on a Sunday morning from 6 to 9 AM.  The first two hours are secular in nature, but underpinned with the view to edify, exhort and comfort listeners as we see the Scripture in 1 Corinthians 14:3.  In other words, the format, by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, is designed to draw listeners to the message of Christ, which starts at 8 AM.  Neither program is taken for granted so this requires me to bathe each one in prayer on a daily basis.  Very little happens without prayer, but a lot happens when we choose to engage in it.

Sitting before the Lord at 4:30 AM on those mornings, when the wind was coming up, or forecast to do so, I used to pray something like, “Lord, if that wind gets up really strong this morning, the signal is going to cut in and out, which will make it distracting and annoying to the listeners and they will tune out.”  I was not overly concerned about the wind during the secular part but I did not want them tuning out during the gospel program.  Sometimes I was given a strong impression that there would be no distraction when 8 AM came along, other times I was not. 

In any case, I would then confess to God that it was all in His hands and then drive to the station.  I would confess that, but not always did I trust in that – there being the odd occasion when I doubted God to answer to such prayer.  However, the Lord delivered the goods every windy morning without fail.  During the first one and a half hours I would often see tree branches shaking outside giving indication that the wind would be strong enough to interfere with our signal.  But within twenty minutes or so of 8 o’clock, I would witness the wind die down and the signal would remain perfect.

Not only that, but sometimes God would re-confirm His hand in that matter by allowing the wind to pick up force again after my programs were finished.  Two or three times that happened.  Humbling times they were too because not once did I experience a “doubting-Thomas” rebuke for my unbelief!  The mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ is astounding.  God used those times to further build my faith, hope and trust in Him and to then give testimony to these in the church or on the air when talking about answers to prayer etc.  Sadly though, when shared with the fellowship I was then associated with, most appeared to be rather indifferent to that testimony because of its “individualistic” nature.  They frowned upon that which was not group focused.

Around that same time I received a phone call from the radio station informing me that a neighbor, living in apartments across the street, came into the front office swearing and cursing and he pulled the telephone from the wall, throwing it to the floor.  Breathing out more threats, he left as quickly as he arrived.  I paid the man a visit to his home to find out what the problem was.  His wife answered the door, but it was his abusive words and threats I could hear coming to me from another room.  I explained that I’d called to help not hinder, but in his violent state he told me to go, or he would shoot me.

There is little one can do for anybody who reacts like that, so I said as much as I turned and left.  Soon I heard him yelling, telling me to wait.  I turned and waited for him to catch up.  He explained that he was sick and tired of the telephone ringing late at night at the station waking up his family and that is why he came over and pulled it out.  The violent manifestation in his eyes was nothing new for me, having witnessed this on many occasions on the streets as a gospel messenger.  He then told me that he was not long out of jail, having served time for a violent crime.

He was unemployed, as were many people at that time, so I encouraged him to join the station and involve himself with something that would motivate him into looking for work.  Others had done the same and in time they had built enough confidence to sit for a job interview and become employed.  I told him that he could do the same, provided he apply himself and be willing to shed his victim’s mentality.  The man gave every indication that he would take up on that offer but he failed to follow through.  A couple of weeks later he caused more trouble over other issues not related to us, but we were the people who received his abuse and threats.

So once again we had another chat.  I was not concerned about this violent man so far as it concerned me.  It was a demonic spirit of violence controlling him, which biblical believers have authority over in Jesus’ name, so it was subject to my spirit.  But I was very concerned for the people at the radio station, so driving home that day I said, “Lord, if You don’t divinely intervene here and deal with this man, he’s going to kill someone and I don’t want that to happen on our patch.”  Immediately I started to exercise spiritual warfare in prayer and kept it up for an hour or so.

I went to bed that night praying, I woke during the night to pray and in my morning prayer time, I once again brought him before God.  When I was all prayed-out, the Lord responded by saying, “You will not have any further trouble with that man.”  I knew that it was the voice of God, but as a biblical Christian, I asked for Him to confirm that from the Bible.  He did.  Part of my Bible reading for that morning included Proverbs 6:12-15.  It reads:  “A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth: he winks with his eyes, he shuffles with his feet, he points with his fingers; perversity is in his heart, he devises evil continually, he sows discord.  Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly; suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.”

Wow!  That Scripture described this man perfectly.  I did not know how God would solve this problem for us, but it was a tremendous blessing to know that our trouble with him was over.  Another reason I’m glad I did not encounter his violence again is because I fully knew that if I did, I would have spoken that word of God over his life – and I believe he would have fell down at my feet “and breathed his last” as a result.  I know that sounds extremely arrogant to many and prideful to others, but if we look at what is recorded of the apostle Peter in Acts 5:3-10 we see that God’s mercy and patience had ran out for two people.  Peter spoke God’s word by faith, and I would have done the same, to protect the innocent.

I did see him once recently after that revelation but it was from a reasonable distance and although we made eye contact, no greeting or exchange of any kind took place.  I don’t know what happened to him after that, but I have never seen him since.  Once more I experienced the living and powerful word of the Lord in action, reminding and confirming that our enemies become His enemies.  The man himself was never my enemy, but the spirit of violence controlling him was – making it God’s enemy as well. “But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.” Exodus 23:22.