I want to share another miracle story with you, one that stands out vividly in my mind. It is a David and Goliath type story. Here's what happened.
I responded to God's calling and went to a town in northern Canada. It was a pioneer town. No policemen were there.
The farmers, called "homesteaders," would file a claim on a parcel of land. If they cleared the land and started a farm, the government would help them out by giving them a small sum of money. I was a pioneer, too - a ministry pioneer. I preached in the town hall and got to know the local farmers.
I felt the Lord wanted me to build a church. I went into the woods, knocked down trees, and delivered the lumber to a saw mill where it was made into logs. I kept half the lumber as pay. I wanted to use this material to build the church. But there was a problem, a big one. I had no way to get the lumber to the mill. So, one of the local farmers loaned me his horses and a sled.
With the help of some brethren who got saved in the town hall meetings, the church was built. What about the farmer who loaned me his horses and sled? After he saw what we were doing for the church, he got saved too.
Some of the fellas who lived in the area were bootleggers. They made and sold illegal liquor. After they got saved, they quit this business and would not sell their brew. Their customers got mad - not at them - at you know who, the preacher.
One day a man warned me, "If you know what is good for you, you will leave town." He was a big man who loved to fight. Everyone was afraid of him. I told the man, "I am not going to leave."
Two weeks later, on a Sunday night, I was getting ready to go home. I had locked up the church and stepped out onto the back steps to leave. It was dark. To my surprise, I was suddenly blinded by a flashlight shining in my eyes. All I could see in the reflection was a huge man and a raised fist.
Then a loud voice rang out in the night, "Preacher, are these meetings going to continue?" I knew if I said "yes," I was in for trouble. All of a sudden God took my left shoulder and drove it into the solar plexus of my assailant's chest. It was a Holy Ghost drive. To my amazement, the man was laying on his back in the snow gasping for breath.
He wasn't hurt; he just lost some hot air. How can a man fight with no breath? As I watched this giant of a man laying there, the Lord said to me, "Son you better get going." And get going I did.
I took off before the man was able to get up. I ran as fast as I could to my little shack down the road. Whew, that was a get-away empowered by God.
After that incident, whenever I would see this man walking down the street, he would steer away from me. Perhaps he thought, "Where did that preacher get such a big wallop?"
By the arm of the Lord, the giant who persecuted me was subdued. To this day the ministry work is still going on in this town. In fact, I heard that seven ministers were sent out from that church to do the work of God.