God moments and their tears of joy

Yesterday was a memorable day in many ways I’ll relish for some time to come. I can’t tell all here but find joy and hope in these…

The smell of alcohol occupied my room as soon as these
fellows worked in. It’s not uncommon here for people to be drunk early in the
morning; so I wasn’t surprised.

“What’s up guys?”

“This  my friend wants
to receive Jesus today; so he begged me to bring him to you.”

“I once was born again back in Uganda, but when I came to
Yei 2yrs ago, things were too tough and all my friends were smokers and
drunkards so I started small by small and after I was full in this thing…”

His story was long and pitiful. Right before me was a victim
of the devil’s deception and lies. But God had started a work in this young man
I know He alone can finish. I allowed him to pour out his heart. As he did, I
saw a hunger and a determination in his body language. I prayed and begged God
as he spoke to come and help me guide this young man. He did!

I encouraged him with few words and as we all knelt and
prayed; tears and more tears poured from him. He wept and I wept too, tears of
joy me. For him, he questioned why he left such peace in Jesus to return to his
vomit.  Godly sorrow was working
repentance.

I was admonishing these guys when my phone rang. It was my
darling wife. She told me a friend of ours we’d been praying for to get married
has said yes to the guy and they’ll be getting married next month; more tears
of joy for me.  I was so excited, by the time I came round, I lost track of my conversation with the guys before me.

They left joyful and we agreed on times for follow-up. They
both showed up again in the evening for prayers. The journey for this once lost
son has taken a new and awesome turn for good. It’s all God.

As we rounded up, I got another call from one of the
secondary schools, “Bro Uche, we are expecting you in our fellowship at lunch
time today, can you make it?”

In the company of one of my dear disciples we arrived there
on time to encourage and challenge these students. Over 40 of them had come. As
usual, several came forward to receive Jesus. We knelt down on the dirt floor
there and prayed for forgiveness. More tears are flowing here again. I could not
hold myself; I cracked and wept with these kids as we prayed together. It was a
most sobering moment. It was obvious God had center stage.

Later in the evening, I was told some man had been waiting for
a long time to see me. But I was attending a pastors’ meeting which lasted a
while. I went to see him with three other pastors.

This man had a story that was more pathetic than most I’ve heard
since I arrived here. He’d attended a famous Bible school here in Yei in 2002
and was doing ministry until he got married 4yrs ago. In his words, “…that
woman is a devil…” He was determined to prove it with all the horrific stories
he told. Worse still, he’d gone back to drinking, smoking and womanizing;
blaming it all on this “wicked, devilish and fetish” wife- his first wife.
There’s another woman on ground now.

His case was too complex for simple answers and quick fixes.
But God came down there and helped us again. I guided him to take
responsibility for the sad state of things within his family. He saw my point
and did. He confessed he needed to restore his relationship with Jesus. That
was the clincher. Everything seemed to fall into place with that choice.

I begged the pastors with me that we all kneel down with our
brother and pray for him. As we did, in that open space, sobs and tears made
praying difficult. As more tears flowed so did the prayers. Each of us had our
reasons for weeping before the Lord. For me, it was connecting with this man’s
wounded heart and seeing God’s healing hand smoother his pain and bring hope in
the midst of many seemingly hopeless cases.

I felt my day ending perfectly when I read these words from
Butch Maltby’s Face Book page, “About the
time you reach your dead end– God’s incredible prankster like solution to your
grandest problem rolls into town. It announces itself by making order out of
the chaos. My joy comes in admitting I can’t fix anything. But He can. And He
did.”

Author: Uche Izuora

I'm inspired by God’s passion for His name in every generation, which provokes global worship through Jesus Christ. Becoming an emotionally healthy and transformative disciple, I aim to mobilize the Church to engage in cross-cultural missions and raise other like-minded disciples who discover themselves in Christ and seek to present and represent Him as Savior and Lord among the nations northward of Uganda. View all posts by Uche Izuora