“I Don’t Know What Else to Do but Quit”

I was sitting on my back steps one day when I finally reached the end of my rope. Dropping my head into my hands, I prayed, “God, my life is in Your hands. I surrender to You. If You want me to go, I’ll go. If You want me to stay, I’ll stay. I want only to be in Your will. You told me You loved me and had a great plan for my life. Please, Lord, speak to me again. I desperately need to hear Your voice once again.”

The next day, I flew to preach for a minister friend of mine. As I sat in the confining seat in coach, I began to pray. “Lord, I have no joy, no peace. As soon as I’ve preached tomorrow, that’s it. I’m so ashamed; I’ve failed You. I don’t know what else to do but quit.” I turned my face to the window as tears slid down my cheeks. It was at that moment—the lowest of my ministry––that God spoke His Word into my spirit. That still, small voice said, “Isaiah 43:18–19. Pray it in faith!”

I was hearing His voice through His Word! I reached for my Bible and opened it to read God’s words of assurance: “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19, NKJV).

I had no idea how big this discovery was. I had no idea that the boy from the projects would eventually claim Menachem Begin as his mentor, and I would have the privilege of partnering with him to found the modern Christian Zionism movement. Nor did I know that I would prophesy over a depressed 28-year-old former furniture salesman whose brother had been shot in the back in Entebbe, Uganda, during the rescue of Israeli hostages. I had no idea I would tell Benjamin Netanyahu that he would be prime minister of Israel, or that I would relate the story the following day to Prime Minister Begin, who would offer him a government position.

I had thought God was through with me; now, He promised to do a new thing. I would soon find out just what it would take to see God’s plan come to pass.