By James Wilson
Many otherwise good hearted Americans – believers in Christ and pre-believers alike – scoff at stories and testimonies in which the teller seems to believe obeying God to the exclusion of all others must include shorting out one’s own brain. The scoffing can grow to a cacophony of derision when the stories involve miracles; yet a God Who is God is obviously capable of God-sized interventions in our lives. If that God loves us like the Bible says He does – if He is Abba, Messiah, and Breath of Life – it stands to reason His miracles would appear when we need them the most. In Uganda – in August 2015 – I came to know Him not just as a God of Enough, but as a God of More.
Yes, we saw sick people healed. In one church more than a hundred came forward in three groups seeking prayer for one kind of healing or another. There was no time to translate their needs into English and my prayers back into their language for each person. I told them – through the translator – I would rely on God to inform my prayers or just sovereignly heal as I prayed. I went down the line, laying my hands on each person and praying as I felt led. Sometimes I felt mega led; other times I was pretty sure it did not matter what I said. When the first line had all been prayed for I asked that any who had been touched by the Lord raise their hands before I prayed for the next line. About half of them responded. God is good; He is the God of More, and I saw no reason to wonder about those who had no touch from Him. Our role is to praise Him for what He does, not to fume about what He does not.
He did relatively small acts of More – for our encouragement – like when I was down to my last protein bar. I brought protein bars with me to supplement what I thought might be a low protein diet and they proved especially useful when I developed symptoms of low blood pressure coupled with altitude sickness. I got to my last one and decided to save it in its transparent zip-locked bag for an emergency; when I took it out on my last day in Kabale I saw there were two. God likewise doubled the remainder of some medications I was saving for an emergency. My back – which is a medical trainwreck – was bounced for hours on unpaved roads as I went from one ministry site to another. Yet I have flexibility following my return from Uganda I have not enjoyed in years; my chiropractor says, “This is a miracle,” without blushing.
But the biggest demonstration of the Moreness of this God of More came in the speaking engagement for which I was invited to Uganda in the first place. Invited to speak at a revival convention in Kabale I discovered only on the Sunday Morning on which I was to speak that all the speakers spots had been given to others a year earlier. Disappointment turned to acceptance as I was informed I would speak on the radio instead. But acceptance turned to joy when I learned my message – the message God had given me for Uganda – was beaming live to six African nations. The thousand or so who would have heard it at the convention became tens of thousands who heard over the airwaves.
On top of that I was afforded an opportunity to share it personally with the Archbishop of Uganda, who pronounced it a great encouragement to him. Days later I shared it with pastors representing some two hundred churches in and around the city of Mbale. We serve a God of More.
The message was simple enough, and it is for my nation as well as for Uganda and the other East African nations reached by that radio station. Our God in Christ notes that each of our cultures – our societies – are under crushing pressure from economic, social, and political sources. He says He has permitted this status quo so we will at last become one tribe of humanity – enjoying our diversity but having each others’ backs in the midst of shared crisis. Likewise, He says we will become one people of faith in Him as we realize there is no alternative source of life and peace, enjoying our denominational distinctive without lording it over one another. And finally we will learn to run toward the dangers we face instead of away from them. We will learn at last that when we are with Him the closer we are to danger the further we are from harm. It is in the very place of danger He awaits our arrival with arms open to (John 10:10 and Mark 9:1) to this God of More.
James A. Wilson is the author of Living As Ambassadors of Relationships and The Holy Spirit and the End Times – available at local bookstores or by e-mailing him at
praynorthstate@charter.net
