My Encounter with the Promise Keeper
Where Belief Met Reality
Some things are easy to believe. I believe that when I close my eyes at night, I’ll wake up again in the morning. I believe that when I open my fridge, there will be food to eat. I believe that I have a family that loves me and supports me.
But some things aren’t so easy to believe. Some things require me to exercise my faith, stretching and pulling it in directions that make me uncomfortable, bending and twisting it in ways that seem unnatural and hardly worth repeating.
A recent experience placed me in the middle of these ends of faith, creating a balancing act unlike any I’d had before.
The C.O.G.I.C. 2009 Youth on a Mission trip presented me with an opportunity to serve as a youth worker on a trip to South Africa – combining my love for young people and my desire to travel to the beautiful continent. As I saw it, I needed two things to make this dream a reality: I needed to come up with more than $4,000 to pay for all of my expenses and I needed to be fully equipped with the power of the Holy Ghost to be an effective witness.
Believing that I would have the money for the trip was easy. I can distinctly recall God telling me not to worry about the finances because He would take care of it all. Whether that meant I would somehow pay for the trip myself or people would give me money, I couldn’t say. All I knew was that I was to continue giving in tithes, offering and to others – and sometimes sacrificially – not trying to hold back or figure it out. Just trust God. And bit by bit, I saw Him fulfilling His promise.
Believing that God would fill me with His Holy Ghost before I embarked on my journey wasn’t as easy. I had been waiting for the gift of His Spirit for a while, at times feeling encouraged and on the brink, at times growing discouraged and ready to give up. I knew that there were areas in my life that I needed God to search out, work on and clean up. This hide-and-seek game to illuminate my heart’s intent grew tiresome, yet I knew I could only do so much on my own. But a timely Word came to me like a refreshing drink to a thirsty soul. From this day forward, you will never be the same was what He gave me and served as a daily reminder that God had begun a work in me that He would fully complete.
Not long after, the Lord impressed upon me to begin a 50 day fast, from Resurrection Sunday to the Day of Pentecost, in anticipation of receiving His gift. Fifty days and nights were spent in a period of consecration, seeking His direction and guidance, quieting my mind so that I could be sensitive to His voice. As the day approached, however, fear and doubt invaded my thoughts. What if the Promise didn’t come? What if I didn’t fast enough or pray enough or what if I made too many mistakes, committed too many sins and didn’t repent soon enough? What if…? But He quieted my fears, telling me to boldly approach His throne of grace.
On May 31, 2009 I had my encounter with the Promise Keeper. Though I’d seen His evidence in my life on many occasions, on this Pentecost Sunday He showed up in, as is often the case, a most unexpected way. In one day, He heard the petitions of a young woman, unworthy of the request, but filled with a mustard seed of faith to ask anyway. Better still, He answered those petitions. And true to His Word, He gave abundantly above all that she could hope for or imagine.
Please pray with me as I journey to South Africa this summer. All expenses paid. Holy Ghost filled.
Many blessings,
S. Danielle Benjamin