A Living Testimony
by Rev Gil Smith
The young man was in Seminary and
serving two rural churches. He was "on top of his ministerial world" with once
exception - he had just gone through a divorce. Although he had only been married about
two years and there were no children involved, this broken covenant almost destroyed him
and his future as an ordained clergy-person. There was no dark, ominous, immoral secret
lurking behind this scene. This young couple had made a mistake confusing the necessity to
be a "couple" with the reality of initial love. The young man thought he had to
be married to be a good minister....the young lady had always wanted to be a minister's
wife. They thought fate brought them together when all along it was simply their own
hidden agendas. They were not malicious, evil or mean.....they were both good young people
from good families....who had made a mistake. But, be that as it may, this
"divorce" about destroyed the young man; he felt he had committed a grievous sin
from which there was no redemption and no return....as if he - and Cain - were a marked
man....a stigma bore upon his pastoral shoulders and a darkness shrouded his heart.
To make matters even more grave, a young couple preparing for marriage with this pastor,
members of one of his rural churches, came to him one Sunday afternoon. They said,
"We decided that we don't want you to perform our wedding; we're going to get Denny
who use to be our pastor." The pastor was devastated. His mother and father lived
only 30 minutes to the west; so he drove there quickly just to have someone say,
"It's going to be alright, honey." After receiving those parental affirmations,
he still felt crushed.
He walked out onto the sun-porch, a glass enclosure. He started crying and praying; and,
the more he cried the louder he prayed. He believed there was no way he could remain in
ministry. He was through...but not through crying and screaming at God, "Why did you
bring me this far to bring me to this horrible place of destruction? Please, please give
me some sign; please, please tell me what to do." As the sobbing subsided for a
moment the young man suddenly felt drawn to the book shelves. Instantly, he reached for a
book and it fell open to page 28. It was a devotional book and the first words his eyes
read was the verse of scripture at the top of the page. A verse from Job ---- "I know
the way you take and when you have been tried, you shall come forth as gold." The
young pastor wiped the tears from his cheek....tore that page out of the book and has kept
it to this day. It was as if God did speak to him on that crucial day in his garden of
gethsemane...."I know the path your on....I know the problems you are
experiencing...I know you are going to be tried and tested and tempted and troubled; but I
also know that YOU SHALL COME FORTH AS GOLD!!!!"
That was 23 years ago. I'm not so sure about "gold," but I'm real sure that was
a turning-point-kind-of-day of unconditional love and grace; and, I thank God that He
spoke to me on that September 9, 1976 through the tears and through the pain and through
the simple words of a devotional book. You just never know where He's going to show up and
"whisper your name"....do you, my friend?
I Love You,
Gil
E-Mail Gil E-mail Lee
[ Dosis Ministries ] [ Prayer ] [ Living Testimonies ] [ Daily Devotional ] [ His Body ] [ In His Service ] [ Special Projects ] [ Links ] [ Photo Albums ] [ About Dosis Ministries ]
Dosis
MinistriesTM