Sunday, April 21, 2013

The Right Place at the Right Time


Last November, I took a trip to Boston, Massachusetts. I perceived the Lord wanted me there since I was getting all kinds of “Boston” signs (such as this paper cutter used at a church in Florida). To save on lodging expenses, I stayed at a hostel for two nights but didn’t sleep well due to other guests walking in our bedroom at various times. The next night I stayed at a house church in Haverhill, Massachusetts. My hosts would have let me stay longer except they already had too many guests. Not wanting to return to the hostel, I decided to leave the Boston area and travel to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where I have friends to stay and minister with.  

During my time in Bean Town I did some sightseeing but not much evangelizing mainly because I wanted someone ministering with me. Now I wish I had done more after hearing about the Boston Marathon bombings this past Monday that left three people dead and at least 170 people injured. This tragedy reminded me of when I was in Madrid, Spain six months before the 2004 train bombings that killed 191 people and wounded close to 2,000. God only knows whom I might have ministered to affected by one or both of those terrorist attacks.

In 2004 I had another incident that showed me how our obedience to the Lord has eternal consequences for others. One night I felt a strong impression that I was supposed to head over to the University of Tampa the next day. After some initial hesitation, I finally did so in the afternoon and noticed an area roped off by the police. A man standing on top of a building was threatening to jump off!  Since I couldn’t talk to this man directly, I bound the spirits of suicide and death in Jesus’ name. Then I prayed in the Spirit until I felt a release. As I stood praying, one man came up to me and asked what was going on. I witnessed to David and he got born again.

I also recall not sleeping all that well the morning of 9/11 but still felt led of the Lord to go evangelizing that day. At the time the hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, I was in Springfield, Virginia...10 miles from the Pentagon. I mentioned those tragedies to the people I witnessed to by pointing out how our lives can suddenly end without warning. The Lord woke me up early the next day (September 12th, 2001) and instructed me to evangelize again in Springfield. One of the people I led to the Lord was a Barnes & Noble employee who the day before saw the plane crash into the Pentagon on his way to work!

Once again, it's important to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit and be where God wants us to be. People’s eternal destinies are at stake. Every day before I leave the house, I pray “God, help me be in the right place at the right time doing the right thing with the right people and saying the right thing.” Let that be your prayer as well.

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way.” - Psalm 37:23

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