DON’T SAY SUCH AND SUCH ABOUT ANOTHER BROTHER

I had another experience along this same line. My wife and I held a meeting down in east Texas in a Full Gospel church. We were going from that meeting to a convention that our denomination was holding. One of the ministers in that part of the state had gotten into some difficulty, and he had to leave the church. I asked someone, "What did he do?" And the person told me what the minister had done. Well, without thinking, I just said, "It looks to me like anybody with any sense would know better than to do that." I never thought anything else about it. My wife and I closed that meeting, and we went on our way to the convention. Now ordinarily I walk in divine health; I just feel good all the time. But during this convention, I just wasn't up to par physically, and I couldn't sleep at night. Normally by the time my head hits the pillow, I'm asleep. I made all the right faith confessions, and I believed I received my healing, but I still didn't feel good physically. On the third night of the convention, I still couldn't sleep. I said, "Lord, if I'm feeling like this tomorrow, I won't be able to go to the meetings. My body is about to give out." I got out of bed and got on my knees and started praying.

I remembered something Dr. Lilian B. Yeomans said. She was a medical doctor who at one time had become addicted to drugs. She became sick and really just went down to death's door. But then she got saved and God raised her up from a deathbed. She
then spent the rest of her life preaching about divine healing. Dr. Yeomans said, "If I pray and don't get results, I start changing. Why? Because there will have to be a change somewhere before the answer can come, and the change won't be with God, because God never changes."

I remembered reading this statement by Dr. Yeomans, so I started changing. I'd been making all the right biblical confessions and saying all the right things, but I still hadn't improved. Finally, I said to the Lord, "Lord, what is wrong with me? I haven't made my faith connection with You. The Lord spoke to me and said, "Didn't you say so and so about Brother_______," and the Lord called this pastor's name. I said, "Lord, all I said was 'It looks like anybody with any sense would have known better than to do that.'" The Lord asked me a question. He said, "Do you know what pressure he was under?" I said, "No." The Lord asked me, "Do you know the circumstances that surrounded this situation?" I said, "No." The Lord said to me, "If you'd been in the same position, you might not have done as well as he did."

With tears, I said, "Oh, God, forgive me. My God, please forgive me. I repent." Do you know that as soon as I repented, I was instantly well. It didn't take me time to get healed—I was instantly made whole! I got into bed and slept soundly for the first time in several nights. You see, there's a principle here. We can't criticize and judge the other fellow because we don't know the circumstances and the pressures that the person may have been under that caused him to act as he did. We don't know what made him do what he did—only the
Lord knows. It's situations like this that taught me to keep my mouth shut about criticizing the Lord's servants. (Kenneth E. H)

Thank you for the article. Noted!