- As I sat in the floor trying to spoon yogurt to a baby undecided on whether to eat, smear a glob of the purple treat that had fallen onto her hand into her eyeball, ear, and hair, or crawl away towards the door where her older sister was using my breast pump to kill bad guys by poking them in the eye, I realized the ridiculousness of the moment. I had simply wanted to feed the baby before getting her dressed to head out the door for a foray to the park. I still had to dress her sister too, who was fighting the imaginary crooks in her princess panties. Some days I feel like it might just take a small miracle to get out of the house before the sun sets. Often times I look at circumstances in our life and think it would take a miracle to change them. I pray about it all often, and sometimes wonder if I sound like my three year old, repeating the same request over and over, not stopping unless I’m asleep.
- In the car earlier, listening to the radio, I heard a caller telling a story to the deejays. She recounted her miraculous tale, and I’ll admit that my eyes misted over with emotion. Everyone loves to hear the big movements of God’s power. Even I often recount my own story of healing from a major, chronic illness. I love to share my story, and hopefully influence others, and make them aware of God’s awesome power. But I wondered today, are we too focused on big miracles, on big shows of God’s power. Are we expecting Him to do big things for us? Is that bad if we do? I think the answer to that is yes and no. I think we can abuse the power of prayer, and the fact that God is mighty to answer us. I think we can be expectant of Him to move in a big way, and in essence close our eyes to everything else. I know I’ve been prone to ask God for a sign, petitioning Him to show me in the physical realm the message He wants to convey. Often times He obliges my request, but should I expect that of Him? I don’t think so. I’ve asked Him for encouragement from someone when I’m feeling low, and He’s been faithful to give me that, but should I expect Him to direct others for my purposes? I don’t think that would be fair to ask. What if we are so focused on trying to see God work among us that we’re missing it all together?
- I did finally get the children out the door, and we managed to make it to the park prior to sunset. There was one area that required you to climb a wide-runged ladder to reach the platform for a big slide. As my daughter gets older I try to stand back and allow her independence to try things and achieve them on her own without my helicopter personality hovering over her. It’s taken some work for sure. Today when she got towards the top she became frightened. She didn’t want to proceed without my help. I came up behind her and placed my hand on the small of her back. I didn’t hold onto her, lift her, or really physically help in any way, but my presence made her feel able to get to the top. That got me to thinking that maybe God is doing miracles all the time in our lives, but we don’t see it. We’re looking for the big, flashing strobe light, and He’s illuminating us from the candle’s flame. We’re wanting Him to pick us up and levitate us to the top of the platform, when He has His hand on the small of our back and is guiding us there. Maybe God is at work all the time in the small things, but we can’t see it because we’re too busy looking around for a burning bush. Maybe He knows we have to climb that ladder on our own to be who He wants/needs us to be when we get to the top. Maybe the real miracles are occurring in my heart with the changes He’s making to me. He’s not suspending time to help me get to an appointment right when I need to be there, but He’s teaching me patience for my children, and appreciation for their clean bill of health when we leave said appointment. He’s speaking to me in His perfect voice of peace, and refining me to be the vessel He desires. He’s performing tiny miracles in my life daily, keeping us safe, drawing us closer to each other, and more importantly closer to Him. He’s not dropping a bag of cash on my front step, but He’s blessing my finances so I can make ends meet and appreciate His provision in times of struggle. He’s always at work, it’s just a matter of if we want to see it, or if we are missing out on the glory, blinded by the desire to see something in the distance that was right before our eyes all along. Everyday is a miracle, every moment a miraculous stepping stone towards the destiny He has for those who love Him. We just have to see it, receive it, and praise Him for it.
That is all 🙂