Grace to Overcome
“I am waiting to see what the Lord will do. . . . ‘Will not the God of the whole earth do right?’” ( A.J. Tomlinson, “Journal of Happenings,” March 11 and 12, 1901)
How good is your memory? Many of our most precious moments are soon just fleeting memories—and less than perfect memories at that. We soon forget much of what we experience, or perhaps we even remember some events the way we wish they had unfolded.
Thankfully some of us make the effort to record daily happenings in a personal journal. Such was the case of the first Church of God General Overseer, A.J. Tomlinson. Because Tomlinson kept what he called “Journal of Happenings,” we know a great deal about what God did in the early years of the Church of God. Although not all of Tomlinson’s journal survived, his son Homer published large portions and later donated most of the original hand-written journal to the United States Library of Congress, which continues to preserve it in their manuscript collection.
The manuscript in the Library of Congress begins in March of 1901. At that time Tomlinson lived in Culberson, North Carolina, where his ministry included a school for children, an orphanage, clothing distribution and a publication. The ministry team also maintained a farm to help meet their daily needs. The journal reveals numerous aspects of daily life including travel, preaching, worship and testimonies of divine healing.
The first entry records Tomlinson’s surveying land upon which he hoped to build an industrial farm. But there was too little money for food, much less enough to purchase a larger farm. Throughout the spring they often wondered if there would be enough food for people and animals. Despite their meager resources, Tomlinson’s journal reveals that time and time again God sent just enough provision to get through the next meal or through that particular day.
Numerous entries tell the story: Sunday, March 10, “My fast day. I was told the bread stuff was all consumed at breakfast. Twelve children and nine grown workers to support. . . . I am waiting to see what the Lord will do.” Monday, March 18, “Must now repair to Post Office and store to secure food for breakfast tomorrow. God is supplying us just a day at a time, but my soul is happy.” April 10, “Corn for the horses failed yesterday, but God so arranged that our horses worked for a neighbor yesterday and earned their board.”
As summer approached both donations and the bounty of the land brought an easing of their crisis. It had been a spring in which Tomlinson and his co-laborers were forced to trust in God for the very sustenance of life—but a trial for which he also expressed gratitude. On May 30th Tomlinson penned: “God has been supplying us with food in His own miraculous way, and I feel that we have been just as thankful for it as when we had to get enough for a meal at a time. Praise God for victory and a spirit of perseverance. We are not free from trials and tests of faith hardly a moment, but God giveth grace to overcome.”
This article was written by Church of God Historian David G. Roebuck, Ph.D., who is director of the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center and assistant professor of the history of Christianity at Lee University. This “Church of God Chronicles” was first published in the October 2001 Church of God Evangel.
