William Branham, a Baptist preacher with outstanding gifts of knowledge, of miracles, and of healing, was an excellent example of the Christian who endeavors to wait on the leading of the Holy Spirit. We heard Branham minister in Long Beach, California, about 1950 and witnessed his sincere desire to follow God in every detail of ministry.

An incident occurred during a visit to Africa, at which time the Spirit of the Lord forbade Brother Branham to go to a certain town to minister, while the members of Branham's party urged him to go to that town because of the extensive preparations that had been made. The Spirit warned him he was to go to another place and rest.

Branham, under protest, went on to the town indicated by the members of his party and became quite ill (described in Footprints on the Sands of Time, Jeffersonville, Indiana; Spoken Word Publications, 1975).

William Branham's concern was that of the Christian who possesses a gift of God and then must avoid all pressures that would attempt to ignore the will of the Spirit as to how and when to use the gift. People run to anyone who receives power from the Lord and attempt to persuade him or her to use the gift in some desirable or understandable fashion. It is easy for a gifted individual to be victimized by his own gift.

If some believer today could multiply food by the power of the Spirit, can you imagine the social pressure that would be placed on him to use the power to relieve the suffering of mankind? What if God gave such a gift and then forbade the use of it until some unknown future date and setting while people were dying of hunger on every side? What if God gave someone a special gift for healing AIDS and then forbade the use of it? This is the pinnacle temptation.

Some might say God would never do such a thing. They do not know the Lord. They do not understand that almighty God has the power to heal every disease on earth in a moment of time. God is using this sin-cursed earth to produce saints who will obey Him. When God has His saints fully prepared, then the curse will be lifted from the earth and there will be no more disease.

We humans sometimes desire to use the Lord Jesus in a manner tailored to our fancies. For example: "Lord Jesus, send us a revival of the Spirit so we can build a big church to glorify your name. But do not let anyone speak in tongues or be healed because we do not believe in that. Let us use You in the manner we think will be most acceptable to the majority of people and therefore of the greatest help in the building of Your Kingdom."

Isn't this what the Lord hears every day?

We are never to use God's eternal love as a means of accomplishing our ends. God loves us and we love Him. We are the expression of His Being. We flow in the Divine will and purposes. To attempt to wrench this relationship so that the Lord is (we think) hopping around to do our bidding, while we are adoring our idols of people and things, is to miss God's will and lose His Presence.

To be continued.