Page 153 - Evidence of Things Unseen

A People for His Praise

hen we moved to our new home in Byron our family had been battling sickness for a
Wfew weeks. Some condition similar to bronchitis had been passed around from one
member to another, and I had come down with it about a week before our move. Tony also
was afflicted with it at this time. I did not think too much of it, for I knew that in time it
would pass and we would be restored to health. I did not know that things would get worse
before they got better.
A few days after we had moved in my daughter asked me to fix a shelving unit in her
room. I was tired from the move, and from battling the respiratory ailment that was going
on, but I agreed to do what I could. I asked Kristin to bring me a chair to stand on so that
I could reach where the repair needed to be made. I had anticipated her bringing one of the
sturdy kitchen chairs, but instead she showed up with a small child size wooden chair, and
she offered it to me. I looked at it for a moment, but being too tired to make a further effort
I accepted the chair and sat it in the closet.
When I got both feet up on the chair it shattered into a half dozen pieces and I fell and
landed on my left arm and side. My daughter was very startled, but I took inventory of
myself for a moment and found that nothing seemed seriously hurt. I told her I was okay
and I got back up and asked her to bring me a different chair, and I finished the job.
During the rest of the evening my left arm grew progressively more painful, and it
began to stiffen up. By the next morning I was barely able to bend it at all at the elbow, and
my forearm was very tender. I still considered that it was not anything serious, since I had
been able to use it fully the evening before, and I knew it would heal on its own. I was
tempted to grumble to God about my sickness and my injury, but I checked myself, and
chose to ask God to give me understanding of why these things were happening.
Over the course of the next few days the Lord gave me understanding of my arm
injury. I was reminded that in Scripture the left arm represents defense, for the soldiers
would typically wear the shield on their left arm while wielding a sword or spear with the
right arm. My arm was injured at the exact spot where a shield would be worn. At this time
the Spirit had led me to write some articles that generated a lot of negative response, and
He was seeking to teach me to not be defensive at all in my responses. This message of not
being defensive was confirmed through a couple of sources, so I thanked God for His lesson,
and I asked Him to teach me how to be totally without defense before man. I was to receive
plenty of practice as the negative mail continued to come in, and much of it was very
vitriolic in nature.
The physical tests continued as I had something resembling a blister come up on my
left eye. It didn’t affect my vision, but it looked bad, and was a little worrisome. My wife also
continued with her respiratory sickness, and she got to the point where she was having great
difficulty sleeping at night, and this affliction was wearing upon her.
About this time my son came into the house one day and he said, “Dad, did you know
the air conditioner here has the same name on it as the one on Levie Road? It says it is a
Payne.” I had already noted this myself, but I noticed one difference. The lettering was
smaller on this air conditioner, and it had a second name on it which was Carrier. So it was
not just Payne, but a Payne Carrier. I wasn’t sure what difference this signified, but I sensed
that there would be some difference from our previous experiences.
About a month after we moved in I was experiencing some relief from my respiratory