Many years ago, after an American visitor had ministered in our Bridge Street
church, it was my privilege, on the Monday following, to escort the preacher to
the home of that great man of God, Smith Wigglesworth. I shall never forget that
visit and the deep impression it made on my life when I was but a young Pastor
longing for the deeper things of God. Mr. Wigglesworth was so filled with God
that his little home, in Bradford, seemed to be holy ground and like Moses of
old, I wanted to remove the shoes from my feet in an act of reverence.
Five times during our short stay in Victor Road, Mr. Wigglesworth interrupted the conversation taking a well worn New Testament from his pocket saying, "Now brethren, let us pause a moment to hear what Father has to say". He read a few verses, gave a brief exhortation, then offered an earnest prayer which made us realize we were very near to God.
Afterwards, as I reflected on these precious moments of communion, I felt this must be what the Apostle Paul meant when he spoke of 'living in the Spirit', or what our Lord inferred when He made mention of His Word abiding in us. I was profoundly aware that God was in that place. Even during dinner we heard again what "Father had to say". When the meal came to an end, Mr. Wigglesworth looked at me and said "Young man, have you got any petrol in your car?" (he always called me the young man. Mr. T. H. Jewitt was the Pastor of our Leeds Church and I was the young man who had come to assist him in the work).
The query about petrol was understandable, we were living in war
days and it was strictly rationed for essential purposes. When Mr. Wigglesworth
discovered I had a supply of petrol, he said "Good, we will go for a short
outing". I felt a few qualms about using petrol for this purpose, but the
man of God seemed to be so completely in control and I felt that nothing could
go wrong under such authority.
Mr. Wigglesworth asked our visitor to sit in the rear of the car; he himself
would sit next to the driver to direct the way. I remember it all so vividly. As
soon as Mr. Wigglesworth got into the car, he lifted his hands heavenwards and
prayed so earnestly and yet so naturally-"Lord bless this young man, bless
this car" and then he added "Lord bless these tyres".
Now I must explain. I said a fervent 'Amen' to this last request, for in those days we were compelled to use synthetic car tyres and quite unknown to Mr. Wigglesworth there was a nasty gaping split in one of my rear tyres through which the inner tube was clearly visible. What a good thing it was that the man of faith included the tyres in his request.
After travelling for some distance, we arrived at the foot of Ilkley Moors. Immediately before us was a narrow, unmade flinty road leading up to the Moors. To my astonishment my guide said "Ah yes, this is the road we want. Go straight ahead young man". My heart sank, I thought, "I'll never get up here without a puncture". But we did you know. Had not Mr. Wigglesworth prayed "Lord bless these tyres"?
Arriving safely on the top of the Moors on that lovely June day we sat for a while on a convenient seat whilst this remarkable man captivated us with some of his amazing experiences. Then the American and I went for a short stroll on those glorious hills, leaving Mr. Wigglesworth to enjoy a few quiet minutes basking in the sunshine. When we returned we found our brother and another man kneeling at the bench, both of them engrossed in fervent prayer. As I stood waiting for the prayers to finish, I sensed again the sacred atmosphere which I had breathed in his home. As they got up from their knees Mr. Wigglesworth introduced us to the stranger with whom he had been praying. He said to me, "Now young man, this brother has to go into hospital tomorrow for a major operation. He used to be a servant of God, but he had backslidden and got right away from the Saviour; but today he has come back home to God and now, whatever happens in hospital, his soul is right with God".
The man, with radiant face, happy in God's restoring grace, gladly gave testimony to what the Lord had done for him. Then Mr. Wigglesworth said, "I knew I had to come up here today; Father sent me, now our task is fulfilled, we will give glory to God as we return home". I drove my car all the way down that flinty road back to Bradford, then home to Leeds. The inner tube was still to be seen through the split in my tyre, but I never had any trouble. Furthermore, I felt quite sure the precious rationed petrol had been used for an essential purpose.