As we age we gain a perspective denied in our youth. While Pat and I were living the events we share, we were less aware of how our experiences were being orchestrated in the heavens. As time has passed we have become more aware and more appreciative that the God of heaven directs our steps. The One who orders our paths is described in Revelation 4.
At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing.
The story I relate is now told from a different perspective than the one we had while in the middle of fretting, wondering, doubting and stressing. (Yes, we have done all of these in the process of learning to trust Jesus.)
After four difficult, full-of-learning years in “The Apple Capitol of Michigan,” Belding, Pat and I knew that a move was on the horizon. The Lord had taught us as we grew from newlyweds into young parents with our firstborn, Candace. The congregation had grown from ten or twelve to over 100 people, and we were on a roll! The Assembly of God was one of more than 15 churches serving the town of less than 5000.
Our hearts sank when we learned that the decision makers in the village refused to allow an annexation proposal to appear on the ballot. If several hundred acres had been annexed, one of the auto makers was prepared to build a new plant and hire several hundred employees. The lot of our people would have improved! But, the town fathers resisted the move, in part because they would have had to raise their wages or lose their under-paid employees.
Pat and I are both big city people. We were more at home in Chicago and Detroit than in Michigan’s Apple Capitol. When the district superintendent arranged for an interview with the pulpit committee of Calvary Assembly of God it became clear to everyone, except my parents, that we were to move our small family to Lansing, Michigan’s state capitol and home of Michigan State University. My parents worried aloud, “What will happen to the people in Belding? You can’t leave them. You are the only pastor most of them know.” I offered a hurried response, “The church will have a pastor.”
In the few weeks between our being chosen pastor of Calvary Assembly and the actual move, I was in frequent contact with the district superintendent, Parvin Lee. I would call him asking, “Who will you be sending to Belding?” The response was always, “I don’t have anyone yet.” Time was racing toward our final Sunday and a new pastor was not in view.
I’ll never forget a chilly Monday morning, calling from a telephone booth (Cell phones did not exist!) on a street corner in Greenville, Michigan. As I spoke to Brother Lee, again, about Belding Assembly’s need for a pastor, and again, hearing, “I just don’t know.” He then asked, “Who do you think will fit?” I was surprised by the question, but explained that before retiring the evening before, Pat suggested that college friends on staff at a large church in Grand Rapids would be an ideal fit. I agreed, but reminded Pat that it would appear to be a demotion and that our friends would not likely agree to move from their ministry. While I was relating my conversation with Pat, Brother Lee asked me to hold while he answered another call.
When Brother Lee returned to our conversation, he said, “I just spoke with your friend in Grand Rapids.” While praying at the altar with members of the youth group, the Lord spoke into our friend’s spirit saying, “You will never pray at this altar in the same way.” His wife was playing the organ when the Holy Spirit said, “You will never play this organ again.” The message was startling and precise, but neither spouse was eager to share with the other. Finally, when neither could sleep, one shared what they had heard during the altar service. The confirmation of the second spouse quickly followed and the next morning the call for which I was placed on hold was made. When asked what the superintendent thought the unusual communication meant, Brother Lee simply said, “It means you will preach at Belding Assembly of God next Sunday and I expect you become their pastor.
Before ending the call, Brother Lee laid out the plans for the following Sunday. I was to introduce our friends, assuring the congregation of their qualifications, before joining the worshipers and observing their fitness for becoming the new pastors. This strategy was highly unusual. I objected, citing the traditional way of doing things, but Brother Lee insisted. During that week I called again and again trying to convince Brother Lee to do things differently. The last call, late in the week, Brother Lee finally answered my wisdom with, “How old are you Otto?” I answered, “Twenty-six.” To my answer, he said, “I have been ministering longer than you have been alive, I suggest you do as I asked.” That ended my challenge.
Sunday morning came and I did as asked. Early in the service a group of people came in whom only I knew. They immediately became disruptive, rudely interrupting the Spirit’s work with their crude comments and restlessness. The people in the congregation immediately thought that the visitors were with the pulpit candidate. The preacher and his wife thought that the guests were part of the church. I was the only person in the building who knew and could clear up the misunderstanding. If Pat and I had not been present, God’s plan would have been thwarted. Later in the day, our friends were affirmed as the new pastors, unanimously, because the One who sits enthroned in the heavens arranges for everything to work together for good. (Romans 8:28-30)
The crowning moment of our experience came a few days later. While movers were carrying our things out the front door while others were moving the new pastor’s thing in the rear door. The church never was without a pastor for even one day, just as I had assured my parents. Jesus, who sits enthroned in the heavens, arranged it all!
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