I was talking to my husband about the disappointment I felt when my friend did not get the good news I was hoping for. I prayed that this would be her miracle moment and it didn't happen. He saw things from a different perspective. "What if," he asked me, "her miracle moment comes out of the pain of this situation? What if her miracle isn't the good news we were all hoping for, but in the devastation?" My prayers were wrong. I was praying she would find her faith in the answer to my prayers that the situation she was facing would turn out positive and when it didn't, I felt like it was a lost opportunity for her to see God.
What if our miracle moments happen in despair? We are looking around for the miraculous healing and when it doesn't come, we lose hope. What if the miracle is in the unanswered prayer? We believe miracles only come in life's positive experiences. Why can't they arrive in the messy, dirty, gritty places? Miracle moments happen all the time all around us. All we need to do is recognize them.
I thought that praying for my friend's situation to work out right was the only way she would see God and miraculously believe in a Savior. Maybe, just maybe, her moment wasn't supposed to come in the good news, but instead, in the outcry of love and support as she walked through the hard journey after the bad news was delivered. Maybe her miracle moment was feeling and experiencing the love of Christ from the outpouring of love that surrounded her during a very difficult time.
My friend and I were laying down looking at the night's sky. She has been through a lot, this friend, and when I say a lot I mean five life time's worth of junk and heart ache. On this night, I prayed that the heavens would speak to her; that she would see, witness, and feel God again as we looked at the stars in awe of their vastness and beauty. While I do think the stars took her breath away in all their miraculous splendor, I don't feel like this was her miracle moment that would bring her back to her faith. Her miracle came in the simplicity of garnering up enough courage to get herself back into church only to see that two of her son's teachers also attended there. The miracle was in the comfort of knowing the women who guide and love on her son daily were walking alongside her on this journey of faith. A simple miracle on a normal Sunday morning.
Miracle moments aren't always grand. They don't always come in a good doctor's report or a reconciled marriage. Miracle moments happen in the simple everyday experiences. Miracle moments happen when you feel like you can't cry one more tear. Miracle moments come when we ache so deep we cry out desperate for someone to take the pain away and while the pain may not leave, the friend comes over and sits next to us in silence helping us to feel like we are not alone. Those are the miracles: the everyday experiences that get us through life. Those things that touch our souls without us even realizing it are the true miracles.
We look for big grand firework displays when we should really be looking in the mundane, messy, and hard. I have learned this summer that miracles don't look like I once thought. Yes, I see miracles everyday when I look at my boys and my marriage and many other things. But, what I learned was that miracles don't always happen in the yes. Miracles happen in the no and the hard and the ugly stuff I don't like going through. Miracles happen when we are in the trenches of life barely able to breath. I love this. I love that I have learned this and caught on that miracles happen when I least expect them to.
I will always look at the stars and declare the heavenly realm a miracle. I will always always look back on the birth of my boys as a miracle. I will always look at my marriage and relationship with my husband as a miracle. I will always see, recognize, and acknowledge the big yes miracles of my life. But, I will stop expecting miracles to only happen in the yes and begin seeing them in the no. Miracles still happen today. Are you willing to see them?
"With man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible." Matthew 19:26
~Is God still able to do the impossible even if that means He says no?~
"He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes." Deuteronomy 10:21
~What awesome wonders are you missing because you feel like they only come in a bright and shiny package?~
"He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted." Job 5:9
~Do His wonders and miracles only come in the form of good news & great blessings? Could a blessing and miracle come in the form of messy and painful?~
Love & Blessings,
Meg
What if our miracle moments happen in despair? We are looking around for the miraculous healing and when it doesn't come, we lose hope. What if the miracle is in the unanswered prayer? We believe miracles only come in life's positive experiences. Why can't they arrive in the messy, dirty, gritty places? Miracle moments happen all the time all around us. All we need to do is recognize them.
I thought that praying for my friend's situation to work out right was the only way she would see God and miraculously believe in a Savior. Maybe, just maybe, her moment wasn't supposed to come in the good news, but instead, in the outcry of love and support as she walked through the hard journey after the bad news was delivered. Maybe her miracle moment was feeling and experiencing the love of Christ from the outpouring of love that surrounded her during a very difficult time.
My friend and I were laying down looking at the night's sky. She has been through a lot, this friend, and when I say a lot I mean five life time's worth of junk and heart ache. On this night, I prayed that the heavens would speak to her; that she would see, witness, and feel God again as we looked at the stars in awe of their vastness and beauty. While I do think the stars took her breath away in all their miraculous splendor, I don't feel like this was her miracle moment that would bring her back to her faith. Her miracle came in the simplicity of garnering up enough courage to get herself back into church only to see that two of her son's teachers also attended there. The miracle was in the comfort of knowing the women who guide and love on her son daily were walking alongside her on this journey of faith. A simple miracle on a normal Sunday morning.
Miracle moments aren't always grand. They don't always come in a good doctor's report or a reconciled marriage. Miracle moments happen in the simple everyday experiences. Miracle moments happen when you feel like you can't cry one more tear. Miracle moments come when we ache so deep we cry out desperate for someone to take the pain away and while the pain may not leave, the friend comes over and sits next to us in silence helping us to feel like we are not alone. Those are the miracles: the everyday experiences that get us through life. Those things that touch our souls without us even realizing it are the true miracles.
We look for big grand firework displays when we should really be looking in the mundane, messy, and hard. I have learned this summer that miracles don't look like I once thought. Yes, I see miracles everyday when I look at my boys and my marriage and many other things. But, what I learned was that miracles don't always happen in the yes. Miracles happen in the no and the hard and the ugly stuff I don't like going through. Miracles happen when we are in the trenches of life barely able to breath. I love this. I love that I have learned this and caught on that miracles happen when I least expect them to.
I will always look at the stars and declare the heavenly realm a miracle. I will always always look back on the birth of my boys as a miracle. I will always look at my marriage and relationship with my husband as a miracle. I will always see, recognize, and acknowledge the big yes miracles of my life. But, I will stop expecting miracles to only happen in the yes and begin seeing them in the no. Miracles still happen today. Are you willing to see them?
"With man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible." Matthew 19:26
~Is God still able to do the impossible even if that means He says no?~
"He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes." Deuteronomy 10:21
~What awesome wonders are you missing because you feel like they only come in a bright and shiny package?~
"He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted." Job 5:9
~Do His wonders and miracles only come in the form of good news & great blessings? Could a blessing and miracle come in the form of messy and painful?~
Love & Blessings,
Meg
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