Learning about God's Presence with Roy and Daphne Godwin
One of the things that we learned very early on was the importance of getting out of the way when people began to experience - or encounter - God on their own. Our philosophy was, if Jesus is meeting with somebody, let's leave them to it. We want the connection for that person to be with Jesus. Not with us, but with Jesus.
- Daphne Godwin
When Roy and Daphne Godwin first moved to South Wales to run a prayer retreat center called Ffald-y-Brenin, they were full of good intentions about how to help people meet with God.
At first, Roy thought the ministry’s success would depend on his own human efforts. They could focus on the center’s programming and teaching. They could create well-planned retreat schedules. Wasn’t it his responsibility to lead people to God and change their lives?
In a podcast interview Dwellings had with the Godwins recently, they shared how God had a different plan - one that did not rely on human efforts at all. God wanted to reveal his presence to people who came to Fflad-y-Brenin directly and personally - by having the Godwins step out of the way.
This was a new thought: Step out of the way? How do you do that when you’re running a ministry? If you step out of the way, how is anyone going to come to know Jesus?
In his delightful British accent, Roy tells about an image the Lord brought to his mind early in his ministry. This image showed Roy how to partner with God in a way that would allow people to receive what they needed from God himself, instead of just receiving what Roy could offer. Here is an excerpt from the podcast (Roy speaking):
“I got this picture in my mind… it was a big trestle table laid out. And a tablecloth was put on it. And there were rows of plates all set on the long table. And then Jesus came into this scene and said this to me:
‘Roy, this is how it is. You've got a choice here. I'm drawing the people together (at Fflald-y-Brenin) so that they can feed on Me. Now if you want to be the chef, you can decide what you want to serve, what it should look like, what it should taste like, and you can serve up what you think they need. If you want to do that, you go ahead and do that.
Or you can let Me be the Chef. I know my people. I know what they need. If you'll allow Me and trust Me, I will just give you the food to put on the plate. Some of it will be soup. Some of it will be massive T- bone steaks. I know what my people need, and I can feed them appropriately. All you've got to do then is serve what I give you, and it's as simple as that.
Which would you prefer to do?’"
Roy says it was clear at that moment he was to allow God to serve people what they needed, directly from His own presence.
One day a couple arrived at the retreat center because their car had simply been “pulled off the road when they were driving past.” The couple said they were not interested in God, but they couldn’t deny that there was something special about this place that had made them stop. Roy explained Fflad-y-Brenin was a place for people to come to pray and to encounter God’s presence, and he took the couple on a tour of the grounds. The Lord prompted Roy to invite the couple to enter the chapel at the end of the tour. After he led them inside, he slipped back out the door, telling them they were free to remain in the chapel for as long as they wanted.
The couple remained inside the chapel for over 2 hours. When they came out, they were in disbelief, saying they had never known God was actually real, but they had just met with Him in the chapel.
Listen to find out what this couple - and countless others who came to Ffald-y-Brenin - experienced as they encountered God’s presence. It’s an inspiring reminder that the greatest thing we have to offer people is space for God to reveal himself.
