Part 10

The 3 giants we were (and still are) facing were as follows.  (1) The property has to be rezoned.  (2) The city planning map has to be amended and (3) The type of structure we are looking to put up has to meet code.

It was during our last Vision Night that the Lord really started to speak loudly to me.  At that meeting, I talked about that piece of property and those 3 giants facing us.  When the meeting was over, a lady in our church whom I respect very deeply came up to me.  She said, "Pastor Matt.  I have a Scripture to give you.  When the Lord placed it on my heart yesterday it didn't make any sense to me.  I felt impressed to write it down and give it to yesterday but I wasn't sure I was hearing correctly from God so I didn't.  But, after you spoke tonight and told us about those 3 giants, I knew the Lord was speaking.  It's Jeremiah 1:17-19."

"Get up and prepare for action.  Go out and tell them everything I tell you to say.  Do not be afraid of them, or I will make you look foolish in front of them.  For see, today, I have made you strong like a fortified city that cannot be captured, like an iron pillar or a bronze wall.  You will stand against the whole land--the kings, officials, priests, and people of Judah.  They will fight you, but they will fail.  For I am with you, and I will take care of you.  I, the Lord, have spoken."

I stood there with my mouth open for a long time.  I clearly believed that I had a word from God.

The next morning, I had a meeting with the city to discuss that piece of property and to see how easy it would be to knock over these 3 giants.  Well, the meeting for me was both good and bad.  It good because the city officials that we met with were just as excited about our church as we were.  They started brainstorming land options with us in the area of town that we were looking in.  We walked in with 1 option and came out with 4 options.  One of the guys with me said, "Matt, I've been to a lot of these meetings and this never happens.  They were excitedly looking at places for us.  It was like they were part of our church, wanting to help us and wanting to see us succeed." 

The bad news is that my expectations were through the roof.  I was totally expecting them to say, "No problem.  You can start building this afternoon!"  I know.  A little unrealistic, but remember I had a clear word from God the night before.  All in all, the cards that we had on the table were still in play. 

The guys who were at that meeting were all fired up.  They saw it as a great meeting, but still, after the meeting, I wasn't feeling all that encouraged (that's the problem with unmet expectations). As I left city hall, I drove down Venice Ave.  As I made my way down the avenue, I saw all of these hot-rods parked along the street, and all of them had big, fat, whitewall tires.  Now, why is this important?  I just bought a car.  It's a 1966 Lincoln Continental (long story).  Anyway, I had been looking for some of those tires.  So, I decided to stop.  I went one street up to Miami Ave and noticed the same thing: hot-rods parked on the street.  I found a parking space and got out of my car with the intent of finding one of these car owners and asking him about his tires.  I never found any of those car owners.  What I found instead was another word from God.