As you can probably see if you are following me on this blog, I am getting closer to the actual date. As I have mentioned, I am posting about some of the significant experiences since the beginning of September. I intend to catch up and post daily all that God is showing and doing in my life – not just in ministry. However, I feel as though the posts I have made are significant to understanding what He is doing now. So, thank you for following me – I am surprised at how many people seem to checking in.
This is part 3 and the final part of a story that I have been telling about God’s sovereignty and a familiar spirit. The title of this post is about overcoming this spirit. Pastor Pete wrote about this day and entitled it 1 in 7 billion. I believe he posted about it on Facebook. It is the story of what happened on Thursday evening, September 17th. To me, this ties up and completes at least for now what God has shown me about His sovereignty. I am sure there will be many more stories similar to these in future posts. As a matter of fact, I am certain these stories will continue because these experiences are what our journey is really all about.
As the last post ended, I was sharing about my experience with a familiar spirit that was affecting me emotionally and causing depression.
On this Thursday, I was still in this deep valley. I am often spontaneous and as a result, I come up with an idea and want to act on it immediately. This particular morning I woke up and thought that maybe what I needed to get out of this funk was to go down and spend some time with my Dad. So, I brought this up to my wife and asked what she thought of me heading down to Fairmont for the day and spending the night. She said sure – so, in my mind that is what I was going to do. It’s not like I didn’t think about my Dad’s schedule, I did, but I thought that we could work it out to accomplish my desire. Now, when I called my Dad, he assured me that I could come, but he had two meetings that night and was working on a job that would require him the next day. Dang, I had no peace with this plan. I told my Dad we would do this another time. After getting off the phone the enemy went right to work. I just kept slipping deeper into this cesspool of depression. Kids in school, wife at work – just me and the dog and I am feeling crummy.
I sat down in my chair and fell asleep.
Around 3 pm I woke up to see that Pete had called. I called him back and he asked me if we could meet. Hmmm… the mysterious ways of the Lord. I asked him what he had in mind – and he said he wasn’t sure. He said, let’s just meet somewhere in the middle between Pine City and Apple Valley. I said sure. I jumped into the shower after having called my wife. All at once, I started to feel energized. I began to wonder if this funk was leaving me when Pete called me back and suggested maybe I needed to just rest. I was like – What? No, what I need to do is run an errand and then meet you.
I was heading North on 35W and going around downtown Minneapolis when I called Pete to find out where he was. Now this was around 6:30 pm or so and I realized I hadn’t eaten anything yet today. So, I asked Pete if he just wanted to meet at the Chinese restaurant we used to frequent. He told me he already had eaten. Alright, this is one of those moments that you don’t realize at the time, but later represent something significant. Because he had already eaten, I bypassed the exit I would have taken to get there. But, as soon as I did, I started feeling this sense of urgency that I have been talking about in most of my posts. I didn’t know then, but I sure do now that I was sensing the Holy Spirit tell me to get off at the next exit. It didn’t make sense – but I took that exit. As I did, I saw a restaurant called “India Palace.” I had been there many years ago and asked Pete if he new where it was. He said yes and that he would be there in about 10 minutes.
I went inside and was seated. It seemed as though I was forgotten about as about 10 minutes went by and nobody had approached me. I was looking at my phone when this guy walks up to my table and sits down. He says, sorry I am late. I squinted because he looked an awful like Pete – but, it wasn’t him. Now, this is awkward. In a moment I am about to tell him that he must have the wrong table when he smiles and tells me his name is John Sweeney. I know John, but it had been a long time and I didn’t recognize him. Now I am confused and wondering what is going on. He told me Pete had called him and asked him to join us. It just so happened that he was down the block from the restaurant when Pete called.
What are the odds?
A few minutes later, Pete shows up. These two characters could be twins. I am caught up in the moment and it is becoming clear to me that God has set this up and we are just experiencing something from Heaven again. We eat dinner and talk with John about what He has been doing to us. On a side note, John is an Elder at Real Life Church in Roseville. Pete and him had connected over the last few years and talk regularly. I often wondered who was mentoring who between the two of them. Back to the story, I brought John up to speed about the vision God had given me about our purpose. That is that our purpose is to advance the gospel to the ends of the earth. I shared with him how God had shown me very clearly that “What” we are supposed to do is found in the Great Commission. I tied that together with this disciplemaking movement we are engaged in and the revelation of Luke 10: 1-12 which tells us “How” to do what we are supposed to do. Specifically how it pointed me toward finding people of peace. I will post on all of these topics eventually, but that is what we discussed over dinner.
John seems rather reserved and so I wasn’t sure what to expect when Pete asked him if he wanted to go with us. I think his response was “Go Where?” Pete said wherever the Lord leads us. The thought was simple, someone needs God’s compassion tonight and we want to bring it. As Pete said that, I was thinking about downtown Minneapolis. Pets says, I think we ought to go downtown. My spirit leapt – as I said “I was just thinking that”. So, do you want to come with us John? Again, awkward moment when you sense the wheels turning in the mind of another man and the body language suggests he is looking for a way out. But, to my pleasant surprise he said “Sure!”
Here is where you think you are on an adventure with God and your praying it’s not just you. Here is where we risk. Because if God doesn’t show up, you blow your credibility with this man and also with God.
So, we all get into my vehicle and I start driving. Not thinking, I took 36 E and at some point started to feel a bit confused. I said, where are we going? Pete said downtown. I said yah, but we are heading toward St. Paul (I was thinking about Minneapolis). Pete said, well – I was thinking about St. Paul and we are almost there. Alright, St. Paul it is then. As we are driving into St. Paul Pete said I think we should go to Dorothy Day Center. As I turned toward DDC, I got the thought that we should go to a park. So, we drove over to a park along the river. We parked and Pete pulled out some scented anointing oil. Man that stuff smelled good as we rubbed it all over our faces. We prayed that the Lord would lead us to a person of peace.
We started walking into the park. We immediately saw a number of youth hanging out. As we approached them, and then walked by them, it was obvious that they were not whom we were sent to find. Now, it is about 10:00 pm and it is dark. This park does not have any lighting – we are walking along a fence line that overlooks the river and there is about a 100 foot cliff to our left. As I am walking with Pete and John to my left side, I am thinking about the youth we just passed. Pete stops, turns and walks toward the fence. I look and John is following him. We walked right by a women and I never saw her. Again, confused for a moment as to what just happened, I then walked closer to her. From the glow of the moon on her face I saw tears. Bam! All at once we realize she is the person who needs compassion. Of course, three men approaching a single women in this situation must have been a bit intimidating to her, but she wasn’t intimidated at all. She tells us that she came out here tonight to pray to God about her three sons. She was praying that God show her He is real, and then the three of us come out of the darkness and approach her. We were an answer to her prayers! We talked and prayed with Maria for about 20 minutes. When we were leaving, the Lord released us to go home. We accomplished what He had intended for each of us on this night.
I really hope you can see how all of this ties together. I pray that you understand the significance of these testimonies. I say that because they are for you every bit as much as they are for me. They point to a God who is sovereign over everything – which is to say every moment. If you are reading this, then I am convinced He has you reading it because He wants you to experience these things as well. In so doing, you will discover as I have different levels of revelation that take you down the path closer to the Lord.
As I drove home that night, I realized that the familiar spirit I was struggling with was gone. The way to overcome this spirit is to move toward God. Our faith grows exponentially when we are willing to respond to God through risk. Afterall, this is what it really is all about – Hearing and Doing obediently. We are not responsible for what happens after obedience – that is on God. But, not obeying is on us.
Thanks for taking the time to read – God bless.
Pursuing Breakthrough 