God certainly does things His own way.  Which is fine with me.  I just wish He’d explain to me some of the stuff that He’s doing.

I suppose He likes to show us humans how small we are in comparison to Him.  We are so easily enamored with our grand illusions and self-importance, but in the face of Eternity, our greatest efforts shrink to insignificance, while even the slightest words that God speaks endures forever. 

I guess another reason God keeps us guessing is to teach us to lean on Him instead of on our own understanding.  That can mean stepping off the edge of a cliff sometimes, trusting that His hands will be there to catch us.  That can stretch your faith to the breaking point sometimes, but the more it stretches, the more it grows.  Which is a good thing, of course, but not necessarily a lot of fun.

 One of the things that has been a curiosity for me has been the places that He has sent me to preach in.  While I would have chosen the biggest churches in town, He has repeatedly sent me to small out-of-the-way places with poor congregations that would normally be skipped over by larger and more sophisticated evangelists. 

While I’m thinking that this was a matter of poor planning, the brothers who set things up for me have constantly maintained that the Lord set the schedule up while they just followed His lead. And they have the incredible stories to prove their point.

But the proof is in the pudding, as they say.

A good example is what happened in Bura, Kenya.  Don’t bother looking for Bura on the map because they don’t make the dots that small.  Nestled in a valley in view of Mount Kilimanjaro miles from the main road, is this tiny village that consists of a dozen kiosks in crumbling concrete shelters, with goats and chickens roaming the dirt streets. 

Set in this small community is a church and orphanage that we have been asked to preach in for two days.  Not only that, but they want 3 or 4 services in those two days! 

At first glance, you wonder where the people will come from, but they filtered in from all around the bush that surrounds the town, and I walked into a full church that was as alive and ready for something from God as any place that I have seen. 

I have learned that mine is not to reason why, but just to get up and preach.  I leave the rest up to God.  I quit trying to figure this stuff out. 

The first service was alive and on fire.  The second service started off with even more intensity, but right toward the end, it was as if I hit a brick wall and my balloon lost all its air.  What happened?  Did I say something wrong?  It was as if someone turned off the switch!

Everyone felt it, but they knew exactly what it was.  Out here witchcraft is everywhere.  I’m talking about the real witchcraft of spells, demons and black magic.  Before you start snickering, let me remind you that Satan is just as real as God is, and one trip to the back roads of Africa will make a quick believer out of you.

The prayer intercessors gathered together that night to break the powers of darkness that was resisting us, and they must have broken through in a mighty way because the next day started off like a shotgun.  Just the opening prayer alone was enough to raise the roof, and when we were done praying, there was no doubt that this was going to be one powerful Holy Ghost meeting.

I preached the most powerful message that I have ever preached.  We were rolling on a wave of the Holy Ghost that took the whole church to spiritual heights that stood us on our feet, waving our hands in the air, shouting and jumping up and down like people who were standing right in front of the Throne of God.  I’m telling you, there’s no describing what it is like when the Spirit of God pours out on a service like that.

And the prayer line!  Wow!  I could feel a river flowing through me as I would pray over each person.  The more we prayed, the greater the intensity of the Holy Spirit.  The greater the intensity, the more people crowded into the altar to touch the Throne of God.  I could barely stand up when it was over, and stumbled back to my seat, swaying to the flow of the river of God that had poured out on this little church way out in the bush at a bump in the road called Bura, Kenya.

Go figure.                                                                   

Already, we are hearing reports that crowds are coming to that little church and scores of souls are getting saved.  And this is the same thing that we are hearing from all over Kenya.  Little churches that we have visited have lit up with the fire and are spreading that fire all around them.

I would have never picked such an obscure place, but when we throw our reasoning out the window and lean upon Him, we open up the door for miracles.

Yeah, God doesn’t do things the way we would, but He always gets incredible results.