NEVER DOUBT YOUR CALLING

The pastor of a small church in central Germany invited me to come preach a week’s revival for him. He got permission to pitch a tent on an open lot near the downtown area. The first night the pastor and I greeted people as they arrived, some brought in by the sign outside. Just before service began, I heard a loud noise and saw several motorcycle riders pull up in front of the tent. They were young men and it appeared they were out having a good time. When they found out it wasn’t a carnival, they seemed to lose interest. But before they left, one of them rode his motorcycle down the center aisle, then turning around he kicked over several chairs as he yelled and gunned the engine on the way out.

The local pastor started the service and I sat to the left of the platform with my head bowed in prayer asking God to bless the message He gave me. All of a sudden I felt something hit the right side of my head, and when I opened my eyes I saw an apple core lying on the ground. When I looked up there was the motorcycle gang sitting on the second row, laughing. I felt a sudden rise in blood pressure and thought their actions were rude, but quickly dismissed it in Jesus’ name.

About fifteen minutes into my sermon, all the lights in the tent suddenly went out plunging us into total darkness. I couldn’t see my notes or the audience, and the motorcycle gang was laughing, but I kept on preaching. The quick thinking pastor ran and got his car, pulling it up to the tent entrance with the lights on. I continued preaching in the glare of the high beam lights, still unable to see who I was speaking to. The pastor didn’t want to leave his car engine running because without a microphone it was hard to hear that far back. Soon his lights begin to dim as the battery ran down, and inside the tent, it became dark again.

When I got to the end of my sermon and made the altar call, I heard footsteps of people coming forward. Just then all the lights came back on, and my heart leaped as I saw members of the motorcycle gang standing in front of the altar. Tears flowed as I lead them in prayer for salvation. Later we learned that they came back with a plan to cut our electrical cord just to see what we would do. One of them said when that didn’t stop us and we still showed that we cared about their souls, it made all the difference in how they viewed us.

I learned that night that if we don’t let situations like that discourage us or cause us to quit, the Lord will make things happen that otherwise could not have taken place. And besides “Love,” another fruit of the Spirit is “Faithfulness.” The apostle Paul stated that love was one of the most enduring graces, and Jesus pointed out that when all is said and done we will hear the welcoming words: “Well done, good and faithful servant.” So this was a lesson for me of how love and faithfulness go together to bring about miracles.