Bill Johnson - Developing Your Personal History With God
Create your history so that as you’re in your daily reading of Scripture and you read that verse, you remember, «Oh God, I’ll never forget how you met me there.» Something begins to happen; it’s not your imagination recreating but the fact that you’re meeting with the Timeless One. I’ve described this to you before. I like having places where I’ve met God through the years. My life’s history is on the pages of this book. I can take it to places—I remember walking on the property in Weaverville, weeping before the Lord because of an ache in my heart, and the Lord spoke to me out of that chapter. I met with Him; it was a burning bush that day, and He shaped my life. I remember walking in the back of the sanctuary, praying, the Lord opening up an entire chapter to me, unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. It was May, a Thursday afternoon in 1979. It has affected every day of my life since then because it was a burning bush, a moment where I turned aside, and the Lord began to instruct me—and He’s been instructing me ever since.
I was feeling challenged because of a particular problem that was so painful. I remember flying from New Zealand back to the U.S. in First Class. I should have given thanks. Here we go. Actually, it was a great evening. I sat there, weeping with a blanket over my head, grieving over something significant. I remember opening my Bible because I noticed people all over the plane had their papers from IBM, Apple, and other business projects—great plans and architectural drawings. As everyone around me was focused on their important documents, I brought out my important papers. I’ll never forget that I began to read in Psalms 25, and He spoke to me in every psalm. I think it was seven or eight psalms, maybe nine. He fed my soul for the next hour. It was as if Jesus was sitting in front of me, speaking into my being, statement after statement. Now, something happens. I can just go right to Psalms 25. I have history; I met with Him there. I can go to Ephesians 4, where the Lord spoke to me in the woods up in Weaverville. I can go to these places in Scripture because there’s a little cabin in the woods; it’s a retreat I can go to anytime I want. And it doesn’t mean that’s the end of it; it means that’s the launching pad because He wants to open up more to me. He wants to teach me more about His heart, His ways, His nature, His hope, His promise for me.
I like to go to the cabin in the woods, that verse—that moment where you have history. For some of you, you know you’ve known the Lord for a very short time, but you remember the moment you received Christ. Someone spoke a Scripture. Guess what? That’s your cabin in the woods. It may have been John 3:16: «For God so loved the world.» Is there any greater verse in the Bible? «For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.» That may be your cabin in the woods. But the point is, everyone has one, and if you forgot where it is, get your map out and find it. It’s not about mere survival; you will survive. It’s how you will survive. I want to survive thriving. I want thriving to be my survival instinct. I want to make it through whatever I face in life in a way, first of all, that pleases Him. Secondly—and this may sound selfish—it’s healthy for my own well-being.
Now, it’s got to be healthy for me. When you get on the airplane, the stewardess says to put the oxygen mask on yourself first, then on those around you who need assistance. If you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be around to care for those you love. It’s not selfish to take care of yourself; it’s a responsibility I owe to you to take care of me. Create your history so that as you’re in your daily reading of Scripture and you read that verse, you remember, «Oh God, I’ll never forget how you met me there.» Something begins to happen; it’s not your imagination recreating but the fact that you’re meeting with the Timeless One whose voice echoes throughout eternity. What He has spoken will never be forgotten.
For a number of weeks, the real priority of my life has been simplicity—just to simplify. Someone mentioned this week about balsamic vinegar; when you cook it down, it’s a reduction, more intense. Simplicity intensifies what’s important; it adds oomph to whatever it is you’re saying yes to. We can have a dozen things going on in our lives, but this isn’t that season for me. It may be for you, but for me, it’s just like I have one gauge, an idiot light on my dashboard, and it’s the presence of God, His mood, His heart. What can I sense from Him? It always involves Scripture. I will not go a day without reading Scripture.
The last time I remember not reading Scripture, I woke up around two in the morning with kidney stones. That’s an experience you don’t want to have again. My goodness, it was horrible! Benny was on a retreat, and I had the kids at home. I called my doctor, and he said he’d meet me at the hospital. I said I couldn’t drive, so he came to pick me up. I called Chris and said, «Chris, meet me at the hospital.» They took me in early in the morning and gave me morphine. What a glorious drug! My goodness gracious! I’m serious; I’m not trying to promote anything. I’m just saying my heart was filled with thankfulness as I ascended to the heights. When it was all over and I came to, I hadn’t read the Bible that day. I wasn’t sure I remembered how to read, but I was happy—let’s just put it that way. I just can’t go without it. It’s not that it’s a great discipline. There’s discipline involved, I guess, but it never feels like a burden. I don’t need discipline to read the book anymore; it’s become such a part of my breathing; it’s my breath. We’re alive because He talks; we’re alive because He speaks, and I want to engage. I want to read with Him.
Listen to this: «When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flame scorch you.» He didn’t say «if,» He said «when.» It’s not, «When you walk through the floodwaters and through the fire, you’re just walking through something I created for you.» It’s a real mess, and I hope you make it! No, it’s a father saying, «Listen, you’re still on a planet filled with sin. There are things that happen in life that were never meant for you, but they happen just the same. So I’m giving you an answer before you have the question; I’m giving you a solution before you have a problem, and here it is: it’s my promise.» It’s what He did in the 23rd Psalm: «I will prepare a table before you in the presence of your enemies.» It’s there! Don’t allow a season to be defined by your problem. Come on!