AN UNUSUAL TRIP

 AN UNUSUAL TRIP

 The following article is an interesting story of how the Lord spoke and provided "manna" as Laurel and I took a wonderful trip of faith. I pray it will be encouraging to the readers. Many of you may remember this story. I posted it 3 years ago. ---Billy Long
 
“LET ME NOT BE ASHAMED.”
During the latter part of 1972 Laurel and I were living in South Carolina. We were preparing to drive to California to attend her sister’s wedding but had only enough money for one-way. We sought the Lord and felt very strongly that the He wanted us to make the trip. However, I did not want to be irresponsible and embarrass myself by being stranded in California and having to call on family or friends for finances to return home. So we prayed and began our journey with peace and faith knowing we had heard from God. The Lord would provide for the trip back, and we were excited to see how He would do it. We agreed that we would not tell anyone of our need, but would simply pray and trust the Lord. This would give greater proof that God was leading us.
As we drove toward the west coast, I prayed two verses of scripture every day and throughout the day. Those two prayers were directly from Psalm 25.
“O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed.” Psalm 25:1
“Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.” Psalm 25: 20

THE LORD'S PROMISE
We arrived in California, attended the wedding, visited with Laurel’s family and our friends from the church there. Soon it was time to return home. We had no money and I was getting nervous. We told no one about our situation, and no one knew our “pockets were empty.” So one night after everyone went to sleep at Laurel’s parents’ home, I went downstairs and began to pray. “O my God, I trust in You, let me not be ashamed. Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.” I also told the Lord that I had to leave the next day. After spending some time praying, I opened my Bible to Isaiah 53 and read to the end of the chapter. Then suddenly I felt a very strong sense of the Holy Spirit’s presence. And in my heart I heard Him say, “I am about to speak to you.” So I very carefully looked at my Bible and began to read Isaiah 54. The words in verse 4 leaped out at me like an audible voice:
“Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame.”
I began to rejoice, praise, and thank the Lord. He was assuring me that Laurel’s and my prayers were being answered. He was going to provide, and I would not be put to shame.
 
THE RETURN TRIP BEGINS
The next day, Laurel’s sister Mary gave us $50 as a “thank you” for a gift we had given her the year before. We were grateful to the Lord for this provision and drove across the California desert feeling like Israel on their journey across Sinai. The Lord was going to provide on this trip the same way He provided for Israel— “manna” one step at the time, as it was needed.

OUR STOP IN PHOENIX
Our first stop was in Phoenix, Arizona. We spent the night with friends who were on the board of regents at Oral Roberts University. I told Laurel, “They are wealthy. The Lord will probably tell them to give us a gift for our trip.” We did not tell them we needed money. They provided us a place to stay and wonderful fellowship, but no gift. We enjoyed the visit and departed the next morning with the little bit of money we had left over from the $50 received from Laurel’s sister. The Lord was not going to send help from where we expected it. He was going to do it His way.
 
ON TO LUBBOCK
Our next stop was Lubbock, Texas. We had dear friends there and they were expecting us to visit them on our way back home. We drove into Bud and Doe Housour’s yard with only a couple dollars in my pocket and a quarter tank of gas in the car. We visited with them a couple days and had Thanksgiving dinner with them. I was sure they were going to ask me to speak at a meeting or at church, and I would receive an offering. But they did not. So the night before we were to leave, I went into the closet to pray after everyone else had gone to sleep. I reminded the Lord that we needed funds to resume the travel, and that He had promised I would not be put to shame. Once again the Holy Spirit came into the room in such a powerful way and reassured me of His provision to come. Once again I rejoiced in faith knowing He was going to provide.
The next morning, Laurel and I loaded our suitcases and got into the car to drive off. We only had the couple dollars and the quarter tank of gas. But we were trusting the Lord. Bud had already left for work and Doe was saying goodbye. As I put the car into reverse and started to back out of the driveway, she stopped me and said, “Billy, Bud said to give this to you. He thought it might help you out on the trip.” She handed me a 20 dollar bill. I thanked her and told her it would help more than she realized. She had no idea that we were leaving her home with only that $20 and the other $2 in my pocket.

ON TO BATON ROUGE THEN TO SC
As we drove past Dallas I called a cousin thinking we could visit with him, but he was on his way out of town. So we kept driving. Our next stop was Baton Rouge where we were to visit with George and Toya Anding who were dear friends from my first year in college. When we arrived at their home I had less than a couple dollars in my pocket and about a quarter tank of gas left in the car.
As we unloaded the suitcases, George said to me, “Billy, I know it’s none of my business, but how are your finances on this trip?” I looked at him and said, “George, the Lord has led us in a very unusual way. I have about $2 in my pocket and a quarter tank of gas. His face lit up and he began to praise the Lord with a couple enthusiastic “hallelujahs.” He proceeded to tell me that he and Toya had been praying for us a couple days before we arrived, and that Jesus had spoken to them. With a big smile George said, “He told us to give you this when you arrived.” He then handed me a check that had already been written for $145.
Laurel and I rejoiced and thanked God for this provision. It was sufficient for the remainder of our journey. It covered the cost of gas, one night in a motel, and food to eat. God was faithful.
We arrived home with a fantastic testimony of how God had led us, how He had spoken to us and provided for us one step at a time along the way. We learned a great lesson in faith and obedience.
 
LESSONS TO CONSIDER
I must say here that we don’t recommend anyone presumptuously attempt to do what we did. We had a very clear word from God at the time and knew He was leading us. Faith is a response to God’s word and to knowing His will and direction in a matter. We are able to act in faith when we know the Lord has spoken or made His will and plan very clear. We should not try to create an adventure in faith by presumptuously attempting to do something foolish. But rather, we cultivate our relationship with the Lord Jesus, study His written word, fellowship with Him in prayer and worship, and be prepared to walk as He leads us. Adventures in faith may be in arenas totally different from the trip Laurel and I made. Since that time we have had many adventures in our walk with God. We have faced hard times and strange times. We have been on the mountain top and trudged through the valley floor. We have experienced great success and also what seemed to be great failure. But through it all we maintain our walk with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
The one thing that was so real to me during that trip of faith was the special sense of Jesus’ presence with us. The goal is not simply to do great things, but to know Him and His presence. From that special place we will know the reality of God’s word to Jeremiah— “Call unto Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3. The adventure is in walking with Him.  ---Billy Long

For copies of my book or to make donations to the ministry, go to my website at this link:
www.billylongministries.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mrs Parker's Electric Paddle

We Knew It Was For Our Good When I was a kid there was discipline and order in the classroom. Teachers could actually teach, and kids could actually learn. We had a healthy fear of punishment, and we knew it would certainly come if we deserved it.   A ll of us kids instinctively knew it was not abuse, but a justified response to misbehavior and rebellion, or an attempt to prevent us from doing things that were dangerous or harmful. We knew our parents and teachers (generally speaking) loved us and were trying to educate us and train us to be mature and responsible. Mrs. Parker's Electric Paddle In my third year of elementary school, we moved from the old, white, wooden schoolhouse into a new brick facility.   When I stepped off the bus onto the new school grounds, the word was going around that our principal, Mrs. Parker, had an electric paddle installed in her new modern office. None of us wanted to face that mysterious and unknown instrument. Whe...
Read more

"That Way I Can Kill the Whole Bird With One Stone."

Just as truth can be stranger than fiction, reality can sometimes be funnier than jokes. Therefore, I try to keep track of unusual things I hear people say. Below is a list of word-abuses that I have heard over the last few years. These friends and acquaintances did not realize they were corrupting a word or using the wrong word. The following sentences were spoken in earnest. A fellow told me he did not want to sound self-defecating . A second cousin told me her sister had an infection in her influfial tubes . One man said he suffered from sick-as-hell-anemia . The hospital had to place a lady’s husband in contentious care . Another man was in there with a brain hemorrhoid . A fellow told me a family member had immaculate degeneration . One man said he had problems with his heart rhythm, but the doctors had decided not to install a space-maker . A friend told me, “While I am in town, I’ll go by and pay the fine and also return Joel’s guitar. That way I can kill the whole bird with one...
Read more

Some Thoughts on the Manifested Presence of God

John 15: 19. “A little longer, and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me...” Rev. 1: 10-17. “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet…And I turned to see the voice that spoke to me…and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength…” 1 Cor. 15: 3-8. “…He rose again on the third day…and was seen…by Cephas…by the twelve…by over five hundred brethren at once…and after that He was seen by me also….” To see or not to see? The natural man comprehends God in the same way as a blind and deaf man would view a brilliant sunrise or listen to beautiful music. He would be oblivious to the wonders around him no matter how brilliant the sight or how loud the sound. The revelation of God works on the same principle. The person who has a heart after God will see or hear Him in the smallest sign, while the one who has rejected God in his heart will see nothing or explain it away, no matter how powerful the Presence or how obvious th...
Read more