Testimony from God, rejected by men

As Jesus’ ministry on earth proved, God may display His miraculous powers on earth even while men often reject or deny them.  I have experienced this many times in my life, when God was clearly speaking to men through miracles and signs, and men for various reasons rejected those supernatural testimonies.  

An example of this occurred several years ago when I was pastoring in an eastern Idaho community. We sensed the Lord calling us out of that community, so we began knocking on doors to see where the Lord wanted us to go.  Soon, we were put in contact with a church who needed a pastor in the mountains north of Boise.  Once they invited us to come and interview for the position, we made the cross state drive. As we drove from east to west, I was praying and seeking the Lord so that we might know His will. I was asking Him, "Do you want me to pastor this church?" Although I did not hear a clear word from the Lord answering my question, He did begin to speak to me about that church we were enroute too.

What He gave me that day is often classified as “A word of Knowledge”.  He was revealing to me something about a believer in the church we were traveling to.  He told me that "in that church there is a woman named Karen". It seemed like a common enough name that there were pretty good odds that in a church of just over one hundred people there might be a woman named Karen.  Since He did not give me a last name, I also realized that if there were two Karen’s in that church I would be left in a difficult situation. The next thing the Lord told me was of the problems this woman was having at home. It was a fairly specific description of her situation. 

When we arrived at our destination, we were given a tour of a beautiful and very “clean” church facility.  Its newly painted white siding and equally bright white interior walls quickly grabbed my attention. In my first meeting with the elders of the church, I informed them that if they chose me as pastor of their church, they could expect to see smudges on those white hall walls that sidelined the ramp to the classrooms in the basement.  This would be because I believed that children and teens should be tramping up and down those hallways. And not only children and teens, but some of those less savory souls I had seen on the downtown streets that night. On our first night staying in a motel on the main street, I had gotten up before midnight and walked the streets praying, still asking the Lord for an answer. That night as I walked past a bar that at midnight was still in full motion, with a number of its patrons out drinking on the street, the Lord spoke to me. He quietly said” If I have you pastor this church; would these souls be welcome?”. 

Sunday morning, with a church clearly packed to see the new potential preacher, I was invited to the pulpit to preach my “tryout” sermon.  Before beginning my message, I knew I had to act upon the "word of knowledge" the Lord had given me while driving there.  Taking the microphone, I greeted the congregation, introduced my family, then took the step of faith the Lord was calling me to take. I asked “is there a woman in the congregation by the name of Karen”.  After an anxious moment of quiet, a woman about half way back in the church stood up.  I said “is your name Karen?”.  She timidly nodded.

I then invited Karen to come up to the podium. As she approached, I set aside the microphone and stepped down to meet her in front of the podium.  She was clearly very nervous.  Speaking so only she could hear, I shared with her those things the Lord had told me about her. Her eyes grew large as I spoke.  When I had finished, I then asked her if what I said was true. She again nodded, this time with eyes so wide I thought they would pop out of her head. She confirmed that those things the Lord had spoken about her were true.

  Without revealing the details of her situation to the congregation, I prayed for this woman before returning to the pulpit.  The entire congregation became aware that the Lord had given me specific information regarding this woman.  It was a testimony of the Holy Spirit’s presence. 

The service went well that morning and I was able to pray with several others before the congregation filed out of the church.  At a meeting with the elders that afternoon, I shared my vision of the “smudged walls”. It was clear that several of the elders who excessively valued their immaculate white walls and halls were not impressed with this vision.  However, there were also several of the elders who were very excited about what they had seen and heard that Sunday.  The vision for the church, the message I had preached, and the obvious testimony of the Holy Spirit concerning Karen. These all spoke to them of the Lord guiding them to confirm me as pastor.

A vote was taken that evening deciding if I would be their pastor. I would learn later that the elders who were critical of my ministry had done some lobbying of the members, convincing many to vote no. Apparently, they had seen my knowledge of Karen and her problems as some sort of “parlor trick”, not impressed at all that the Lord was testifying.  When the votes were finally counted, they came up one short of confirming me as pastor.

Testimonies that the Lord was trying to speak to this church continued to come in. Those who supported me as pastor were furious, one of them even offering another building to begin a church in the ranching community just north of that town. Another elder had recently attended a bible study in a neighboring community, asking for prayer for a new pastor.  Someone in that group spoke up prophetically and stated the Lord had sent them a pastor. The prophecy was even specific enough to say that the pastor the Lord was sending had come out of Alaska. (We had spent several years of ministry in Alaska).  

I share this testimony not to condemn those in the church who rejected the testimonies the Holy Spirit was providing, but to show how the Lord can move mightily, even with several confirming testimonies, and men can still be blind to His works. The life of Jesus is certainly testimony to this as He openly displayed the power and presence of the Father, yet was despised, rejected, and even crucified.  The Lord still testifies to His power and presence through signs and wonders, through words of knowledge and wisdom, and through many other supernatural activities that He displays to catch the hearts and attentions of people in this natural world.