Grace and Peace My Friends:
Ever have the feeling that God is trying to get your attention? Well, just such
a time in my life is what I hope to share in this post. While it will be hard
to get these events to make sense until the end of the story, I do think you'll
relate to the story and join me in giving praise to God for His marvelous ways.
Let me set up this story with some preliminaries. On the day of my
salvation, March 23, 1962, I had been doing yard work at the West Phoenix
Baptist Church,
where the Buck and Hazel Daniel family held their membership. I received $10.00
a month to take care of the grounds and a couple of houses that were used for
Sunday School classes. Pastor Milton Gage approached me and
began to inquire as to my thoughts on salvation and eternity. I fumbled around
with a few thoughts, mainly to avoid a serious answer. After he left, I found
that I couldn't get my relationship with Christ out of my mind. That very
night, during revival services at the church, I asked Jesus to forgive my sins
and come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Only two nights later I was
baptized into the fellowship of West
Phoenix Baptist
Church by pastor Milton
Gage.
Fast forward twenty-one years to January 18-19, 1983. God was at work in my
heart in a way of which I was not yet aware. By that time, I was a member of
the Putnam City Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. I had been persuaded by my
friend, Joe Perry, to attend the Oklahoma Evangelism Conference at the First
Southern Baptist Church in Del City, Oklahoma, to hear sermons from Junior
Hill, Stephen Olford, and...a preacher from Lafayette, Louisiana...Perry
Sanders.
Two things happened that night and then a third thing the next day. The first
thing was that the music was lead that night by Brother John Shillington.
I was amazed! You see, John was a classmate of mine at Alhambra
High School in Phoenix, Arizona...Class
of 1968. I had attended that school all the way up to about two weeks into my senior year. At
that time my family moved to Alexandria, Louisiana, where I completed my high school days at Bolton
High School. At Alhambra, I knew John as
a Varsity football player, a man around campus, and a great guy. But, I never imagined
that he would one day lead music for the North
Phoenix Baptist
Church and that he would be the
special guest leader for the 1983 Oklahoma
Baptist Evangelism Conference!! I thought..."Oh my...God can use people
that I know!" The second thing that happened to get my attention turned
toward God was that Perry Sanders preached a sermon entitled "A Visit to
Heaven," from the 21st chapter of Revelation. Only one week
earlier, his wife Gloria, a victim of cancer, had been memorialized in a funeral
service in Lafayette.
Perry Sanders, his emotions raw with grief, held his composure together enough
to preach the most incredible message I had ever heard. The Spirit of God was
palpable in that huge auditorium as Perry spoke of how differently we would
approach life if we could truly experience the reality of heaven. I had no idea
what God was doing in my life in that incident, but something I couldn't
explain was churning deep within my soul...as though God were trying to get my
attention. The next day would be undeniable proof in my heart...God was
speaking…to me!
After the amazing Tuesday night services, I thought of something humorous that
would bring me back to First Southern Del City the next day…a yearbook with
blank signature pages. I and My family had left Phoenix, while my senior year was barely
underway. I had taken senior pictures and ordered my yearbook but then I moved.
So, my Class of 1968, Alhambra
High School year book was
mailed to me. I had a yearbook but no signatures! Now, suddenly, here was John Shillington,
an Alhambra
High classmate in town. At last, I could get someone to sign my yearbook! So,
Wednesday morning, I went back to the Evangelism Conference...with my
yearbook...ready to get it signed by John. Regrettably, I discovered upon my
arrival, that John had completed his part of the meetings and had left for Arizona. Even though I
was disappointed, I decided to stay for the morning services. The auditorium
was totally packed with over 4,000 attendees and I was forced to stand in the
back for awhile. I saw that a few people were leaving so, seizing the moment I hurried
down the nearest of about a dozen aisles, hoping to find a solitary seat. I was
all the way down to the third row from the front before I saw a vacant seat. I
sat down in the seat one person in from the aisle. We were soon given this
instruction: "Introduce yourself to a person next to you and pray with
them." I turned to the gentleman next to me by the aisle, and
he eagerly clasped my hand and said: "Hi, my name is Milton
Gage." I was stunned! I finally looked closely at the man I had
providentially sat next to in this auditorium of over 4,000 people and realized
who he was. I stammered out a barely intelligible: "Yes, You Are!" Then, regaining
some composure, I exclaimed: "Brother Milton, I'm Robert Daniel, and you
led me to Christ twenty-one years ago at West Phoenix
Baptist Church!"
Well, if you can imagine, we had the grandest of reunions...totally unexpected,
but beautifully wonderful!
Was God getting my attention? Yes! Although I couldn’t
sort it all out right then, I knew that each of those experience was a divine
encounter with God. I had wondered: “Could God use someone like me?" and
He answered by showing me an old friend from the same school I attended…a guy
much like myself…who was in the ministry. I heard a sermon and experienced the closeness
of the Holy Spirit like never before, and I realized that "God
moments" can come and that…just maybe…I shouldn't be so quick to
brush aside the nudging of God's Spirit. Finally, as if to confirm my personal
relationship with God, He orchestrated the most incredible reunion by setting
me down in a seat next to the godly pastor who led me to the Lord...twenty-one
years earlier...a thousand miles away...in the midst of multiple thousands of
people!
Oh, what a Savior! Oh, how sweet the closeness of the
Lord to His children. How individually He knows and leads us!
Dear God...You still have my attention! Does He have
yours?
Blessings,
Robert Daniel
