“They’ll never make it,” they said. “Are you sure you want to do this,” they said. “It will take a miracle to keep these two together,” they said. Oh, the naysayers that lined our path to matrimony! To them I say – God is still in the miracle working business – and I’m so thankful that he is! Because of Him this story of a lovely lady bringing up two very lovely children and the fellow she met who was busy with a boy of his own are celebrating 20 years of being a family today! It's been a wild ride, but, yes, the Lord still works things in His miraculous ways.
Throughout the bible we see awe-inspiring miracles performed:
*The prophet Elijah soaked stones, wood and soil with water not once but 3 times and, “the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.” (1 Kings 18:38). Proving to the people and the prophets of Baal just who is the one true God.
*During the Israelites' wilderness wandering, “the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night a pillar of fire to give them light.” (Exodus 13:21)
*Jesus healed a “woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years,” with just the touch of his robe. (Mark 5:25)
*Jesus healed “a man who was demon-possessed…and when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke.” (Matthew 9:32-33)
*Jesus fed 5,000+ with a boy’s, “five small barley loaves and two small fish,” with leftovers that filled twelve baskets. (John 6: 1-14)
Just like with our engagement, the biblical naysayers try to deny these miraculous events or explain them away with coincidence or scientific theories. Even sometimes as believers we tend to only look at the big burning bushes as miracles – the tumor is suddenly gone, the car is totaled with no scratch to be found on the driver, help appears out of nowhere at just the right time. But miracles happen every day and it doesn’t have to be a burning bush to qualify. A miracle is defined as a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of the divine God. Every day we are placed in the path of someone who needs to hear our story or we receive a card from a friend at just the right time or the perfect song comes on the radio to ease our pain or an unlikely relationship stands the test of time – these are surprising, welcome, inexplicable by human standards and are absolutely miracles of God.
How would our lives change if we began recognizing the everyday miracles around us?
It’s so easy to lose our awe and wonder of the Lord. We get caught up in day to day life and we are just going through the motions. Letting the ebb and flow of our schedules and responsibilities push us through each day can have a dulling effect on our relationship with Jesus. The people who were healed of disease, freed of demon possession or fed full were going about their day to day as well when Jesus came along. But look at how the miracle affected them. They were changed not only in their circumstance but in their spirit as well. From down trodden to downright joyful, they were amazed, filled with awe and strengthened in their faith.
Maybe if we are careful to notice the miracles in the middle of our mundane, we will remain focused on the awesomeness of our God so that the joy of the Lord will be the strength and comfort we need to live each moment glorifying God and sprinkling his love along the way.
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