The Lord came into my life over 20 years ago. I had just woke up early one morning and a voice said, "READ YOUR BIBLE", and that voice hit me as if someone had stuck me in the side of the head. Everything was spinning, and I had to check my arms and legs to make sure I was ok. Then looking up I saw my Bible in a vision, behind my time clock. I looked there, and sure enough it was there just like in the vision. But it shouldn't have been. I don't think I had seen the Bible for over a decade. It should have been in a box buried in the garage or a closet. It was something my mom had given me.
Anyway, I read the Bible, figured out that the Lord was really there to hear from, and wound up knowing Him and talking to Him daily. I was a retail manager working at a large drug chain at the time. I had to get done this large project for them. He had been telling me that He was going to help me with it, but He hadn't and it was going to be needed soon. So, I went in one morning on my day off to work in the project. In the parking lot I told the Lord that I had to get this done and if He was going to help me on it, now was the time.
And He did respond to me clearly and precisely saying, "Karl, I want you to quit."
Now this was a good job so it shouldn't be surprising that my response to Him was, "QUIT-- YOU WANT ME TO QUIT!!!!!!!!"
Oh my, this was not good, was it? So I started explaining to Him about how it was a good paying job, and I was fine with it, and so on.
He responded, "Go home, you are quitting."
It was my day off, so without committing to quitting, I started for home trying to analyze what this all meant. There was a well known fleece thrown out in the Bible, so I asked Him perhaps He could give me some clear indication that it was Him, perhaps through my pastor?
"Yeah." He said, "Call up your pastor when you get home."
So I got hold of the pastor's wife, and set up to meet with him just that afternoon. We to an upstairs room where we talked. I told Him what I heard, and He told me about how he had done this church because the Lord had asked Him to quit a very nice job (better than mine) to open up the church. Well, I guess I needed to do what He asked. Then there was a huge clamp of thunder outside!! Which was kind of scarry, because it had been sunny outside when I was coming home.
Then with after the thunder the Lord told me, "Karl that is a sign the meeting is over. You need to tell pastor Jeff He is needed down stairs." So I did and we started to leave that upper room to go down stairs, but before we left we noticed that it had started raining hard outside. So we went to the window, and as we looked a small pickup truck pulled up with a lot of snow on it.
So I said, "Maybe it is snowing?", and regretted saying it as soon as I said it, because it doesn't snow there. I had lived there over ten years and had never seen it snow. Yet the pastor said, That is my daughter, and she was just around the corner."
We went down stairs and out the front door and it was indeed snowing and pretty hard too.
So I got in my car and was driving away when I heard the Lord tell me, "Karl, isn't it beautiful driving into the storm?"
Humm - It was beautiful and kind of peaceful driving in the snow, where it does not snow. I guess I was quitting. And I didn't have an idea of what I was going to do!
To be continued
Anyway, I read the Bible, figured out that the Lord was really there to hear from, and wound up knowing Him and talking to Him daily. I was a retail manager working at a large drug chain at the time. I had to get done this large project for them. He had been telling me that He was going to help me with it, but He hadn't and it was going to be needed soon. So, I went in one morning on my day off to work in the project. In the parking lot I told the Lord that I had to get this done and if He was going to help me on it, now was the time.
And He did respond to me clearly and precisely saying, "Karl, I want you to quit."
Now this was a good job so it shouldn't be surprising that my response to Him was, "QUIT-- YOU WANT ME TO QUIT!!!!!!!!"
Oh my, this was not good, was it? So I started explaining to Him about how it was a good paying job, and I was fine with it, and so on.
He responded, "Go home, you are quitting."
It was my day off, so without committing to quitting, I started for home trying to analyze what this all meant. There was a well known fleece thrown out in the Bible, so I asked Him perhaps He could give me some clear indication that it was Him, perhaps through my pastor?
"Yeah." He said, "Call up your pastor when you get home."
So I got hold of the pastor's wife, and set up to meet with him just that afternoon. We to an upstairs room where we talked. I told Him what I heard, and He told me about how he had done this church because the Lord had asked Him to quit a very nice job (better than mine) to open up the church. Well, I guess I needed to do what He asked. Then there was a huge clamp of thunder outside!! Which was kind of scarry, because it had been sunny outside when I was coming home.
Then with after the thunder the Lord told me, "Karl that is a sign the meeting is over. You need to tell pastor Jeff He is needed down stairs." So I did and we started to leave that upper room to go down stairs, but before we left we noticed that it had started raining hard outside. So we went to the window, and as we looked a small pickup truck pulled up with a lot of snow on it.
So I said, "Maybe it is snowing?", and regretted saying it as soon as I said it, because it doesn't snow there. I had lived there over ten years and had never seen it snow. Yet the pastor said, That is my daughter, and she was just around the corner."
We went down stairs and out the front door and it was indeed snowing and pretty hard too.
So I got in my car and was driving away when I heard the Lord tell me, "Karl, isn't it beautiful driving into the storm?"
Humm - It was beautiful and kind of peaceful driving in the snow, where it does not snow. I guess I was quitting. And I didn't have an idea of what I was going to do!
To be continued