Page 167 - Evidence of Things Unseen

Second Addendum -

The Garment of Humility

(December 2011)

had suspected for years that Yahweh might one day require me to experience
Iimprisonment even as that other Joseph, the son of Jacob, did many years ago. God’s
ways of perfecting His sons have not changed. A man must pass through many humiliating,
sorrowful, and distressing circumstances in order to provide the right environment for
spiritual growth.
In February of 2008 my son Josiah turned 18 and the child support I was required by
the county judge to pay to Tony came to an end. Tony had requested from the judge that I
pay her alimony after the child support ended.
When the Father directed me to leave employment at the Macon Rescue Mission in
2008 to return to full-time ministry, I sought to pay Tony the alimony she requested.
Yahweh enabled me to do so for a period of 8 months, but then the financial support I was
receiving from the saints of God began to dwindle. This led to a period of intensely seeking
to know the mind of the Father.
It had ever been my hope that Yahweh might somehow effect a reconciliation between
my wife and I. I had no bitterness in my heart toward her, and sought always to send her
money for support at the earliest opportunity, rather than waiting until the last day of the
month. When it became impossible for me to send Tony the money she requested from the
courts, I inquired fervently of the Father to know why this was transpiring. I told the Father
that I did not want Tony to think I was bitter toward her, or unwilling to send her support.
In reply, the answer I received from my Father in heaven was that I was to trust Him. That
He was working out all things according to His wisdom.
I knew that my inability to pay the alimony award put me in a place of peril. The
Father would not allow me to seek secular employment again. He continued to affirm it to
be His will that I minister full-time. In a few months I received notice from Tony’s lawyer
that contempt charges were being filed against me for not paying alimony, and in November
of 2009 I was ordered to appear in court.
I appeared before the same judge that granted Tony the divorce she sought in 2005.
Once more, the Father made known that it was His will that I not hire a lawyer, that I give
no defense, and make no charges against my wife. I was to be as a sheep led to the slaughter.
The judge ordered me to lay aside the full-time ministry and to seek secular
employment so that I might be able to pay Tony the money she sought. In much meekness
I shared with the judge that God had directed me to leave secular employment in 2008 and
to return to full-time ministry. I told him that I could not in good conscience do anything
else. I was led in handcuffs from the courtroom and taken to the county lock-up where I
spent 60 days in a jail cell.
In 2010 Tony instructed her lawyer to bring the matter before the judge again. Once
more I was required to appear in court, and the result was the same. I was led away in
handcuffs and taken to the county detention center where I remained for 74 days. It was
during this latter period in jail that I wrote the following article which I sent to my daughter
and asked her to post on my blog site.