By David Stahl
There are places and times in our Christian walk that God wants us to appear before Him. God has ordained these times and places what I call making places for our spiritual growth and development. And if we do not appear God will have to arrange other things in our lives to bring us to new places and a time. Now these making places are subtle and often secret. They have no signs that read “making place ahead,” but when God is finished with us we know the work we have allowed God to do in us and we know we will need to use the revelation and knowledge God was allowed to work in us at the next making place God has for us. God has taught me so much in Romania and Bulgaria maybe that is why I so enjoy traveling there in Nov each year. God has reserved His treasures for me to discover in lands that I do not call home. I can go into so many wonderful lessons God has taught me in foreign lands, but I will hold them in my heart for another day and another article. However, the point in bringing them up is God has these places for us and we MUST be in “there” to receive from God. No other place or time will do. This place, this certain place and time God has a lesson for us, something to learn of Himself, and if we are not there then we will not be able to receive. Now, one would ask how do I know where these places and times are? If not marked how will I know how to get there? Well as in everything in God we will be led by His precious Holy Spirit and we will know that we know when we get there. For this to happen we MUST be walking with the LORD and in tune with what the Spirit is saying. So many Christians go to church every Sunday and Wednesday and fulfil their religious duties and obligations feeling in their heart they have done what God wants from them, but in reality they are far worse off the longer they go in their deception. Paul said of the Church at Corinth, “Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. 18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.” (1 Corinthians 11:17-18) and sadly I have seen these verses play out all around the world. Even sadder these folks never made it to the making places God has for them. Thank you (especially in my life) God for your longsuffering, but there was a 2 Corinthians. As we are led by the Spirit God will let us know. Before we left for Greece, Romania, and Bulgaria the LORD shared with me, “go to Greece and I will meet you there.” Well my heart was excited with the expectation of how God would manifest Himself to me. I thought well I may speak at a church the first Sunday we arrive maybe God will reveal Himself strong through the preaching of the word and speak to me. My spirit was eager and poised for what God had for me. I thought of Moses when LORD said, “Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. 2And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount. ” (Exodus 34:1-2) This was a making place for Moses that changed his life forever. Just one stop at a making place will change our lives forever. How important was this for Moses? His life depended on it. So too in our lives when we can get “there” God is able to change our lives forever. The LORD told Walter Beuttler, “meet me by the pyramids in Cairo” and he did. Not sure what the LORD spoke to Walter Beuttler, but I know Walter knew and it changed his life forever. I told this story to Elizabeth (daughter of Jake Luffy) and even told her what God told me and she too remembered the story. Elizabeth was very helpful in helping us find a good ticket, took us to the church, and hosted us one night for dinner. Please keep her in your prayers. When the LORD says He will meet with us many things can run through our minds. When we pastored a Church in Stuttgart there was a German lady we called her Mommy Laurie. I really liked her. She was a spiritual lady up in years and suffered from some medical problems. I remember her telling us of when she was a little girl and the Nazis would chain her to a table as she would clean the inside of howitzer casings. The chains kept her at work when the bombs began to fall. One thing Mommy Laurie wanted to do was go to Israel and walk where Jesus walked. Being a German lady going to Israel really meant a lot to her. She wanted to go where Jesus went and hoped the LORD would meet her “there.” Place after place she went where she was told Jesus walked she hoped He would speak to her, but alas not one word. Then at the garden (as she related it to me) tomb she was standing outside and the LORD spoke to her and said, “why are you here I am not.” She was disappointed and ashamed. Yet even in this Mommy Laurie had an encounter with God. She made it to the making place God had for her and her life was ever changed. When we left Germany we lost track of Mommy Laurie. I think she went to the States and we mailed her our newsletter, but that was a long time ago. Being “there” is the place in God where things happen in us and for us. In Palms we read, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.” (Psalms 133:1-3) The “blessing, even life for evermore” was not found in the precious ointment upon the beard of Aaron or in “the dew of Hermon,” but “for there” in that place of unity among the brethren, is commanded “the blessing even life for evermore.” Meeting the LORD “there” in that place of His making and doing is where the blessing is. While in Greece God meet me at two times as He said He would. God always keeps His word. As I said I thought maybe in the Assembly of God Church in Athens, but no they had a puppet show. That is okay I have learned a man cannot give what they do not have. God did meet me as He said. As Karen and I were walking down the back side of the Acropolis we passed by Saint Nicolas a Greek Byzantine Orthodox Church so we stepped inside. When I entered my eyes locked on to another pair of eyes the pastor of the church. It was almost magical. We could not break our stare. We rushed together and embraced each other, such a warmth, such an exchange of compassion and knowing. He was a gentle man with a calm spirit, but there was a longing in him that I feel our meeting satisfied in me. I was “there” God met me in the person of this Greek priest not by the Assembly of God pastor, but through (what at first I would have considered) a man that does not know God. The LORD will meet us in subtle ways in ways we are not looking for Him. Seldom look for God in the usual He is usually found in the unusual. And the second time was when Karen and I visited the ancient City of Corinth. We negotiated a time and price with the driver Christo at the hotel we stayed. The morning came and we waited for him to show, well God had other plans. Christo showed up, but could not take us to Corinth so he arranged for his nephew Stomas to take us. Stomas was a cab driver and knew his way around. Christo apologized and said his plans changed (beyond his control he was so right) for the morning and there was nothing he could do, but his nephew would take great care of us. Usually I would say no thanks, but I felt a peace in all of this. If God is doing something there will be a peace, so we just went along for the ride.. Stomas showed up and off we went. On our way out to Corinth we exchanged small talk and Stomas asked me what I did for a living, well this opened the door to start sharing the Gospel. As I told him of our lives he said, “I perceive sir you are a prophet.” I said no I am just a man who loves Jesus. He then started telling us about his Greek Orthodox faith and we listened. I shared why we wanted to go to Corinth and he was amazed to learn about Paul. We arrived and he stayed with the car. Karen and I walked the City of Corinth (in about 1 1/2 hour or so) and ended near the old theater. Stomas met us and we discuss the tour. I was telling Stomas about how Paul was before Gallio the Deputy of Achaia at the judgment seat (Bema) in Acts 18:1-18 and how God spoke to, protected, and used him then suddenly Stomas said, “oh my arms they are on fire.” “There is something on my arms like fire!” “Oh my arms!” I told Stomas not to worry it was the presence of the LORD. He was amazed that God could manifest himself so. On our way back to Athens (about 1 hours) I took Stomas deeper about the LORD and explained the plan of salvation to him and asked, “Stomas would you like to receive Jesus Christ as your personal LORD and savior?” And he said, “yes.” So right “there” in his taxi Stomas accepted the LORD as his personal savior. No sinner’s prayer as I had already explained confession (with OUR mouth and he understood) and repentance. I told him to find a good Christian Church that preaches the word of God and the LORD would take it from there. What a glorious ride back to the hotel. Stomas was “there.” God met me again in a simple acceptance of salvation. You know we look for the big things for God when He is always present in a sunrise, clouds floating across the sky, and a hungry heart reaching out to Him. Yes God has making places for us and for us “to grow in the grace and knowledge of the LORD Jesus Christ” we must be “there” and come up the mountain and stand by Him.
