Page 135 - Evidence of Things Unseen

The Threat of Eviction

fter being in this home on Levie Road for a month it came time to pay for another
Amonth’s rent. Once more God’s provision did not include money to pay the rent on time.
I was really grieved by this, and I argued with God some concerning this matter. I reminded
Him that we had asked that if it was His will for us to remain in this area and intercede for
this body of believers that He would give us a sign of His pleasure in this matter by opening
up another house for us to move to. He had done so by sending a couple all the way from
Illinois to secure a house for us on the very day that we began boxing up all of our things
to move. This couple had entered our home and said, “I think I may have just rented your
house for you.”
There was no doubt in our minds that God had gone before us in this matter, for we
did not even have to look for this home. God brought it to us. I was extremely perplexed
then, when God would not manifest His provision for us to continue to pay rent. I had to
contact our landlords and tell them I did not have the money to pay them, but I was
committed to do so as soon as the funds came in. The landlords were not willing to be
patient with us at all in this matter, and when the rent was only a few days late they
informed us that they were going to file at the local courthouse to have us evicted.
This news was very unsettling for my wife, and it was disturbing to me as well. We had
never faced eviction before. Immediately, images began swirling around in our minds of the
Sheriff coming to put all of our furniture out by the road. We had fears of being put out with
no idea of where we would go. These, and similar anxieties, were to fuel the storms that
would rage in our souls for the next few weeks. If I were perfected in my faith I would not
have worried, instead I would have been able to sleep as soundly as Christ did on the
cushion in the boat while the storm raged around Him. God had given me plenty of
assurances that things would be all right. He had spoken through my daughter during an
earlier test and said, “You need not fear any trouble. Instead trust Me.”
I considered these words often in these days, as I re-read God’s words of prophecy to
me. They did give me a measure of calm in the midst of the storm, but it was not a perfect
calm. In this same prophetic word God had said, “Those who place their trust in Me need
never fear, for I am a just God,” and again He said, “Put away all foolish thoughts of doubt
and unbelief, for great is my reward to those who trust in Me.” These words became my
defense against the storms that we were encountering, and I would daily do battle by
meditating upon what God had spoken to me. I had to choose whether I would walk by
sight, or walk by faith, trusting in the words of God as more real than the events that were
conspiring against us.
I mentioned before how God had prepared us for the test of faith when we first moved
to Montezuma by having a Christian brother send me a book on the life of Rees Howells.
When I first opened this book and looked in the index I saw a chapter titled Called Out
From Wage Earning, and this was the very first chapter I read, for God was calling me to
leave my job at the college, and I wanted the encouragement of another man who had
walked in a similar place. Rees Howells also experienced tests, but God was faithful to see
him through all of them. I had not even known this book was coming, but God knew I
needed to be encouraged by the witness of it at this time. He spoke to me further through
the chapter Standing in the Queue, which gave us the boost we needed to stand during our
own time of testing.