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Confident in His WorkingIn Philippians 1:6, Paul expressed his “being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.” As a senior in high school in Houston, I answered God's call, and was regenerated in my spirit. I went to a denomination in Houston and began college at Houston Baptist University; but I was very hungry for truth, and totally unsatisfied with the traditions of religion. I quickly tried all the other denominations, including charismatic groups; but I did not observe any serious desire to pursue the reality of the Word or practice the unity of believers. Eventually, I began to doubt if God was doing anything important on earth in those days. I left religion and Houston Baptist University, and concentrated on my own plans. I fell in love, got married, and began taking a couple of courses at Sam Houston State University. Within six months, I was drafted into the Army, my head spinning with the very real prospect of being ordered to kill people in Vietnam. During Basic Training, I became very ill, and reported to “sick call” every morning. The drill sergeants thought I was faking it, thinking I was just another cowardly Christian. They mocked me constantly, accusing me of trying to get out of training. Although I had been vomiting for several days and could eat nothing, I was not allowed to stop training. Eventually, I had a temperature of 104, and was admitted into the base hospital. As soon as I laid down, my appendix ruptured, and I lost consciousness from intolerable pain. During surgery, I nearly died, and had to be revived. Weeks later, I had to have a follow-up operation. During these dark days of slow healing, I wondered if Christ was doing anything I could be part of besides war and death? Did He have a people who were genuine? I prayed, I begged, I cried unceasingly, “Lord, if there is such a people, show me. Show me what you are doing TODAY!” Meanwhile, the Lord was working on my behalf for His purpose. In Texas, my wife met some Christians we had known before in denominations who were now meeting with a group calling themselves the church in Houston. The Army granted me a month's leave to convalesce back home in Houston. During this time, my wife and I accompanied our friends to some of their church meetings. Their meeting style was not anything I had known, so I was first put-off by them. It was more like sitting on the winning side of a football game than in a religion service. But, oh, they had confidence in this very thing: that God was indeed among them, working. After my one month leave, I had to return to basic training. I was torn as to what to do next. At the base, I was told to again pick up my M16 rifle, and rejoin the company at the firing range. I prayed deeply, in great agony in my soul. I went to the captain's office and told him I would rather face imprisonment, even death, rather than be asked to kill others or assist others to kill. As it turned out, I was not forced to continue training, but was kept in the company as a “holdover” based on my appeal. For months, the Lord sustained me to endure merciless ridicule and threats from drill sergeants, officers, enlisted men, even draftees. I was constantly ordered to do push-ups (a legal form of harassment) and placed daily and nightly on special clean-up duties. But the more they tried to break me, the more the Lord strengthened me physically, psychologically, and most important, spiritually. After several months, the U.S. Army released me. I returned to Houston, eventually joining those Jesus lovers I had met on convalescent leave. I began reading many books and articles by Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. This articles covered topics such as God's economy, my human spirit, the unity of the believers, the unique ground of the church, Satan's strategy against the church, the church as the bride that matches Christ, intercession, God's need for overcomers, and God's ultimate purpose and goal--the New Jerusalem. God brought my wife and me, not just to the church in Houston, but into fellowship with all the local churches. It was not a place to settle down, but a place for God to work on us to produce His building, and a place for us to voluntarily enlist into “God's army.” The Lord has been faithful for almost three decades now to continue His work on us to conform us to His image (Romans 8:29). We have experienced His working in us during wonderful times and great hardships in our lives. We have had to relocate numerous times to secure jobs, and we have endured long and hard financial times. We have lost one child, our only other child is diabetic, and my wife is disabled from a rare disease. We are no longer young, strong, or confident in ourselves to be able to do anything. But we are confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in us will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6). Robert Middleton | Back to List |
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