I praised God for what He arranged, and thought of how the only variable He did not control was my willingness to ask a stranger if I could pray for her. We all have the power to thwart God’s plans by simply saying “No” to His call. But the fruit is awesome whenever we say yes. One of my in-laws visited that restaurant weeks later and Ruth was again on duty. She recognized him immediately and came over to say she was still praising the Lord – openly – for what He did through us that Saturday Morning.
Of course we never know what the Lord is up to before we become involved in it. One time I attended a school play because the daughter of some friends was in it. They introduced me to the family of her best friend and the mom asked if I would pray for her mom – an eighty-six-year-old in the late stages of cancer – who was not present at the play. I agreed and prepared to say a quick thanksgiving for her remarkable life and to wish her a peaceful transition into God’s immediate presence. His word in my ear was, “Don’t even think about it!” and I figured He had other plans. I took a deep breath and prayed for the grandma – in absentia – that God would heal her cancer even now. I next heard from the family about two weeks later. The grandma was completely cancer free.
For those readers who are hyperventilating over this story, I’ll point out two things. One is that I do not have the power to heal; God does, and He enjoys working through willing human vessels. Two is that He invented speech; it is not a stretch for Him to speak to those same willing human vessels. Jesus called all of us to evaluate things in terms of their fruit, not their plausibility by our standards. Ruth received peace and healing for her heart; the grandma received healing for her cancer. Cases closed.
But of far greater importance is that God is calling His people – and any who desire to become His people – to expect the next Great Awakening. He launched this call the first day of 2008. He expects us to prepare for it by undertaking a season of individual and corporate repentance. By this He means – of course – to clear the barnacles from our spirits – what we call sin. But what He really wants – when the decks have been cleared – is for us to progressively re-focus our attention on Him. That means we become intentional about saying, “Yes” to whatever we hear or see Him doing, however counter-intuitive or uncomfortable that may be. It means judging our circumstances according to what we know of Him instead of judging Him by what we know of our circumstances.
It means to dedicate our lives – as He puts it in Luke 1:17 – to going forth in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, to prepare a people for righteousness. It means to expect Him to show off when we show up, but showing up for us means to live in terms of others’ needs. And it means righteousness – understood as alignment of our lives for the abundant life He brings – is the inevitable fruit of that dedication. Books like my own The Holy Spirit and the EndTimes are not about apocalyptic visions intended to terrify. They are both proclamation and primer for the greatest season of all time in which to serve the Lord our God.
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
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