I recently drove down to Tallahassee with a friend to buy some specialty Cypress lumber for my new home and while in the area took my friend over to my former home, Honey Lake Plantation. I met a former employee, and he arranged a tour of the entire grounds for us. The place looked awesome, and I could not believe how well it had been maintained. For those of you who have never been there it is stunning in its beauty.
When I purchased Honey Lake I was living in Islamorada in the Keys, and I wanted a place for a family retreat. Honey Lake was teeming with wildlife and natural beauty that would provide what I deemed to be the perfect place for my family to enjoy the great outdoors. We could horseback ride and hunt the 5000 acres and fish Honey Lake and in the many farm ponds and I was thinking I would pass it on to my kids for generations.
Boink! Wrong! My children who lived in Atlanta had taken up golf and cared little to nothing about hunting and fishing anymore. They visited primarily on holidays and returned to Atlanta and building their careers and their busy lives.
Unbeknownst to me God had grand plans for this property. Shortly after I bought it I noticed that the former owner had planted a thick bamboo barrier that blocked the view of the lake from the public road adjacent to my property. In my estimation it was near criminal to do so because others needed to see the magnificence of God’s creation of the spring fed blue lake and gorgeous moss covered live oak trees and magnificent cypress trees. I mowed the bamboo down and opened it up for one and all to view the lake just by riding down the road, many of my neighbors stopped by to thank me.
I got the idea that it would be a lovely place to get married and launched into a development project of massive proportion building 91,000 square feet of campus. In just a couple of years it became a world class five-star resort and people came from far and wide to get married there, quail hunt, have meetings to include Governor Scott, and so on. I built a beautiful small church there and we conducted services as well as weddings.
As time moved on I wanted to start a worldwide ministry and build a children’s youth ministry and retreat on the plantation for disadvantaged kids. Much to the chagrin of my youngest son who had become a partner, I had lost interest in running the resort and began spending nearly all my time and money in building the Jesus Alliance, a worldwide ministry devoted to being a part of the “Great Commission” and leading others to Christ.
My son was disillusioned with it and we decided to sell Honey Lake, with him returning to Atlanta and me moving back to the ocean, where I could focus on the ministry. God brought a huge church from Jacksonville Florida to buy the property and use it to help people. They established the only clinic in the country that exclusively uses Christian psychiatrists and counselors to help those who are depressed, suicidal, addicted, formerly abused, and so on. The patients receive top care in a world class facility. My personal home which was rather large was converted to a home that houses young girls who have been abused and a boys camp is now on the horizon. Honey Lake Plantation became Honey Lake Clinic and soon it was filled to capacity with a big waiting list of folks needing care developed.
Fast forward to today and I was told by their staff this week that literally thousands of people have been helped at this facility since I left. The church I designed on a napkin in our restaurant averages a half dozen or more people being saved per week, and many are baptized in Honey Lake, or if it is too cold one of the swimming pools. Recently one of the stars of Duck Dynasty baptized several new converts himself in Honey Lake. One can feel the Spirit of God at Honey Lake and I believe He has His hand on it every second of every day. He never intended for me to use it as a family retreat or another business empire, He wanted it for His use, and I was just a worker bee that built it for him.
While on this trip I stayed with a close friend who ridiculed my efforts at HLP because I didn’t focus on building it into another money-making machine and its rural location. During my recent visit countless people came up to me and thanked me for building that place and helping so many people. In fact, the CEO told me had it not been for me there would be no Honey Lake Clinic. I wouldn’t trade that for all the money in the world.
We seldom know at the time what wonderful things God is planning for our lives. I have often wondered why God took me, a homeless wretch, and blessed me beyond measure. I know He loves me, but the verse below exemplifies His thinking. He knew the plans He had for me, wretched man that I was, and whether I knew or not His will would be done. Although still flawed in many ways I have tried to be obedient and faithful even when it was very difficult and especially in helping others. I can only thank God for allowing me and using me to be a part of it.
My advice is to just go with the flow and see what marvels God is planning for you my friends even if it is the opposite of what you originally were thinking. His way is far better than my way.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.