August 15, 2011
Don’t Miss Your Miracle
A man was re-roofing his two story house when he slipped and tumbled toward the edge. He screamed out, “LORD, help me!” Suddenly he stopped rolling. A nail had caught the strap of his coveralls, “LORD, you can cancel that prayer, this nail stopped me.” He missed the fact that God had caused a nail to work loose and to rise up. The nail was at the right spot and at the exact moment, and saved the man’s life. The lesson here is miracles aren’t just earth-shaking supernatural events. God already knows our needs and arranges ordinary events of life to coincide in our moment of desperation.
When Israel departed Egypt, they traveled three days in the wilderness and found no water. They were hopeful as they approached an oasis, but the water was bitter and poison. Then God showed Moses a tree and told him to cut it down and to throw it into the water. When Moses did this, the waters became sweet. Have you ever thought about how that tree got there? How long had it been there? It takes time for seed to grow into a tree. Here’s the miracle: God knew Israel would be there at that exact moment and that the water would be poison. So, sometime prior to this, God had arranged for a bird to bring a seed or maybe He used the wind or directed someone to plant the tree. Scripture doesn’t tell us and that’s not even important. What is important to us is the miracle of God arranging ordinary occurrences to meet the need of His people at just the right moment.
I wonder how many miracles we overlook everyday because we’re expecting a ‘bolt of lightning’ or a ‘gigantic angel to swoop down.’ God does perform the spectacular, but this is not the norm. More often, He works through our ordinary everyday life. It’s taken me a long time to appreciate this. I’ve witnessed miracles as I’ve ministered in third-world countries—the blind to see, lame to walk. These are memorable. Yet, we need to realize that this is not the only method of God’s workings. If we only expect the spectacular, we will miss the more subtle.
Elijah became despondent after his victory over the prophets of Baal. He ran away, wanted to die, and ended up hiding in a cave. His discouragement resulted from the fact he couldn’t see God doing anything. Elijah even believed he was the only one remaining that was serving the LORD. The LORD taught Elijah an important lesson. He sent a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire. But the LORD wasn’t in any of them. After these God came as a still small voice. This word could be translated the sound of a gentle blowing. God didn’t always work through violent winds, earthquakes, or fires. He was teaching Elijah His workings can be like a gentle blowing. If you go outside and you are hit with a 60 mph wind, you take notice. But how often do you take notice when there is only a 2 mph breeze? It’s still wind.
We all enjoy the 60 mph moves of God. However, we must learn to take notice of His gentle breezes. Just because we don’t feel or see God working doesn’t mean that He’s inactive. Between the close of the Old Testament with the book of Malachi to the beginning of the New Testament was a period of 400 years. Not once was there a revelation from God or a visitation by an angel. Nonetheless, God was at work. He used a pagan, Alexander the Great, to prepare the world for the coming of Christ. We don’t have to see or to feel God to know He is at work on our behalf; He is busy planting trees for our poisoned waters in order to turn the bitter into sweetness.
Sustaining Word for the Week:
Don’t miss your miracle. You may not see or feel God at the moment, but be assured He’s busy planting trees to sweeten your bitter waters. And always remember—God is already working on your tomorrow!