THE EVANGELIST’S WIFE COMMUNICATING WITH GOD
By Gayla Foster

An old story tells of a mouse and an elephant who were friends. One day the mouse perched jauntily on the elephant’s back as they crossed a rickety bridge. This prompted the mouse to state, “Didn’t we make that bridge shake?”

Often in our weaknesses, we are surprised at what we can do through the power of Jesus Christ. In fact, the longer the mouse stays on the back of the elephant, the more “bridges” he will shake.

It seems like only yesterday that the Lord spoke to me and said, “Be made alive in My Spirit and allow My Spirit to be the center of your life.”

I questioned God as I thought this was true in my life. I was married to an evangelist and was working the routine of revival.

That word routine really grabbed me. Was I merely going through the motions that I had learned? I pray a few minutes before service, sing my song, nod my head in agreement as my husband preaches, and then reach for the sinner in the altar appeal. I push the altar service from the organ and I get excited when people receive the Holy Ghost. And the Lord said there was more for me?

I knew the Lord was right. Lately, I had begun to feel stagnant and sluggish. I wanted more from God. I wanted to GROW. . . EXPAND…. and EXPLORE with the power of Jesus. I wanted my heart to overflow with His love, but how was it to happen?

I did all those things that were expected of me. That was my answer. I was letting the routine, the pressures and the pressing matters, rob me of the most fulfilling relationship in my life. That relationship was my life with Jesus Christ.

Now Jesus was saying to me, “Let Me be the center of your life.” I thought I had already done that, but now I realized I had not. I just let Him have the left side or the right side, but He wanted the center. He wanted the area of my life where He could score the most points.

He wanted my precious time, not my spare time. Not just cold, left over time. Jesus was wanting the first of my life, not just what I could scrounge up to give him.

It dawned on me that I was depending on the sermons of the week to be my spiritual food. Jesus was wanting to feed me from His Word on a daily basis in my own personal devotion.

The problem in my life was not that there was not enough spiritual food. It was there. The problem was that I did not know how to get it for myself. I was like a baby in a pantry surrounded by all kinds of canned goods, fruits and vegetables and meats. There was plenty of food but I was starving to death unless some one opened the cans for me. I was not growing.

First thing I started to do was set a time to meet with God every day. It was not to be the night jaunt to the prayer room before service. That must be kept up. It was to be a unique time when I would draw away from everything and talk with God as my best friend.
Sometimes, it would be in the trailer or in the church. Other times it would be sitting in the sun as the real Son warmed my heart.

I now look forward to this part of my day as the very best. It is a time when it is just Jesus and me. He teaches me things about myself I never dreamed of.

I take my needs, desires, and problems to Him. In return, He gives me life in reality—a life full of hope, peace, joy, and trust. He gives me confidence in myself and teaches me to set my priorities to conform to His image.

We sabotage ourselves and inflict serious damage to those around us when we do not have a daily time to share with the Lord. Barricades will come, but we must remove them. Procrastination will only steal our best time. There is so much to gain, however, that we must not miss our date with the Creator.

Be active, not passive . . . if you would find this happy hour of mine. We cannot sit idly by and expect the good things of God to just happen. We must do more than just get on the right track. We must get going.

As my prayer time became more a part of my life, the Bible, the language of God, took on a new meaning. Before it was the black book preachers read from. Now it is life to me.

Then I started a study of the Gospels myself. I was shocked at what I was doing. Remember the mouse on the elephant that shook the bridge?
Now my feelings of stagnation and sluggishness disappear as God motivates me through His Word.

I am GROWING. .EXPANDING . . . EXPLODING with the joy of Jesus Christ. I was unworthy, but He made me worthy. With Jesus I can do all things.

Along with my daily Bible study, I found that good books help a whole lot. What I feed on is what I am to become. I owe it to those in my future to equip myself to fight Satan in every way I can.

We must read to stimulate the mind and establish personal standards by which to live. Knowing why we “do and don’t” has really helped me to live my best for Jesus.

My Bible is marked up and my trailer is full of books, but I am a new creature. I still pray before each service, sing “His Songs,” preach with my preacher and reach for the lost, but I do it in a new-found love and confidence.

Remember, a passive life is nothing but a piece of driftwood floating without any purpose down the stream of life. It is the nature of driftwood to drift, but it is a failure for a woman to become driftwood. Let’s go in quest of what is best and conquer and obtain.