Page 94 - Evidence of Things Unseen

Saul’s Branch

efore going on to tell about my experiences after I left my college teaching job, I feel it
Bnecessary to speak about some significant things that happened while I was still
employed. God did not take a break from molding and shaping this son of His during the
two years He graciously allowed me to work as a college instructor. After a brief time of
ease, the lessons and trials began again in earnest.
I mentioned that I had a period of nine months when I was teaching thirty hours a
week. This was truly a time of rest for me, and I know of no great trials I experienced during
this period. When my work hours were decreased, God began once more with the tests and
purifying work in my life, and some of these trials were quite severe, at least in my thinking.
We kept our townhouse for a year, which was the duration of our lease, and I felt
within me that God would move us to another home in the area when our lease was up. A
few weeks before our lease was to expire I was at work one night and I had a strong witness
in the spirit about this. I determined that I would take my wife out to dinner the next night
and tell her what I was sensing, however, my wife did not need me to tell her anything, for
she had already been hearing from God.
When I arrived home that night my wife told me she had a visit that day with an old
friend. This lady’s husband had recently retired from an executive position with a local
manufacturing company and he was now buying up some properties to rent out to others.
This friend told my wife that her husband had been praying about a new piece of property
he had just purchased, and he felt that the Lord wanted him to contact us about renting
from him. They did not know our situation, and were not even sure whether we owned our
home, or were renting.
It seemed evident to me that God was once again directing our steps by bringing such
an opportunity before us right when our lease was about to expire. The fact that I was also
sensing a witness within that God was going to move us just added to my confidence. The
home this couple offered to rent to us was larger than our previous one, in a nicer
neighborhood, and it also cost slightly less than we had been paying, so it was a very
attractive offer to us. The home was located on the corner of two streets that had very
intriguing names. It was on the corner of Branch View Circle and Branch View Drive.
God has spoken to me very specifically through street names and addresses before, so
I was alert to what He might be speaking to us here. I found that the names of these streets
were referring to a small body of water, just down the hill from the home, that bore the
name of Saul’s Branch. Saul’s Branch was not very spectacular. It was merely a small
channel of brackish and stagnant water that had formed off to the side of a creek that ran
nearby. There was no outflow to this body of water, and it was a haven for frogs and a
breeding ground for mosquitoes.
While we lived at this home the Spirit began to teach me more about the two branches
of His church that existed side by side. One was pictured by the reign of King Saul, and the
other by the reign of King David. One body was Saul’s Branch, and one was David’s Branch.
I was comforted somewhat in knowing that we did not live on a street named Saul’s Branch,
for such a street did exist in this neighborhood. Instead, we merely lived on a road that had
a view of Saul’s Branch, and God would speak to me various things about this branch of the
church that knew little of faith, and which was pictured perfectly in a stagnant backwater
that was going nowhere while providing a breeding ground for things that were both noisy