Incredible Greatness

LifeToday Weekly Devotional:  Words of Life

Everyday Miracles
by Bruce Wilkinson

“I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s
power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that
raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at
God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 1:19-20)

What if I told you I’m certain you missed a miracle yesterday? And not just any miracle but one that Heaven wanted to do through you to significantly change someone’s life for the better – maybe your own?

Almost everyone in the world can point to an event in their lives that seemed directly orchestrated by Heaven, that seemed impossible to explain without using words like, “I can’t believe what just happened! That was a miracle!” We tend to value such events so highly that we recount them over and over, often for years.

Why do we remember such events so clearly? I think it’s because we feel that we have been touched by Heaven. It’s as if God Himself stepped through the curtain that separates the seen from the unseen to make something wonderful happen for us, something only He could do.

In the experience we hear a personal and unforgettable message from God. Something like, I’m here. I care about you. I can do for you what you cannot do for yourself.

When it comes to miracles, most people I know see the world as divided in two. On the far left is a region we could call the Land of Signs and Wonders. In this land amazing miracles seem to happen a lot, although only for a select few. On the far right is the Land of Good Deeds. Interestingly, in Good Deeds land a lot of people believe in miracles and spend time studying them. They just don’t expect to actually see any miracles, much less be a part of them on a regular basis.

Between the dazzle of Signs and Wonders and the duty of Good Deeds lies a broad and promising middle ground: Everyday Miracle Territory. Here people believe that God wants to intervene – and does – in supernatural ways in human affairs on a regular basis. Here unmet needs are seen by ordinary people as golden opportunities for God to show up, and to do so through them, at almost any moment.

Most Christians know the importance of expressing their faith through deliberate acts of service to others. Everyone’s good works matter a great deal to God. As Paul reminds us, we have been “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Among the good works you and I were born to do lies a wide range of accomplishments that are extremely important to God, that we have been commissioned to do for Christ – and that we cannot do without His supernatural power working through us.

Think of the relationship between good works and personal miracles in your life in terms of two equations:

Your good works for God = ministry.
Your ministry + God’s supernatural power = miracles.

For a personal miracle, you must choose to proactively partner with God’s supernatural power to do what no good work of your own could. All of Christ’s followers have been invited into this amazing partnership with Heaven.

It’s a joint but unequal venture between weak humans and an extraordinary God to pursue His agenda in His way in His time by His power for His glory. But you can be a Christian for years and miss it completely!

This explains Paul’s unusual concern about this very issue, as expressed in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul understood that a person can be a true believer in Christ and not yet understand at all how we are to actually accomplish the business of Heaven.

Thankfully, a simple, self-evident approach to delivering miracles does exist.

For a personal miracle to take place we must have:

• a person (the recipient of the miracle)
• a need (the purpose for the personal miracle)
• an open heart (the place where a personal miracle is completed)
• a delivery agent (the means for getting the miracle where it is needed)
• God (the person who does the miracle and receives the credit)
If God is going to meet a specific need for another person through us, then we need to find and connect with that person by responding to God’s nudges. The fact that a nudge seems out of context or surprises us helps to identify our person with confidence. If in doubt, proceed – all you risk is being friendly.

Once you’ve connected with the person, your role is to patiently and sensitively look for the need. This is where a bump question like “How may I help you?” can be effective. You’re still relying on God’s guidance, but now you can partner with Him more completely to meet the need at hand.

Miracles often involve some kind of material provision, but miracle agents don’t stop there. Strategic prayer is involved.

We want to partner with God to get inside the recipient’s heart. A heart tends to respond best to gentle and sincere invitations from the heart of another. Our role is much like that of John the Baptist’s – preparing the way for God.

Thankfully, God desires to deliver miracles through us more than we want Him to. That means we can relax, trusting that God will deliver a miracle and that our necessary role in the event is to respond to His direction.

 We intentionally do everything in our power to help the person make the all-important leap between the wonderful experience and the wonderful source of that experience – God Himself.

This Week
Make yourself available to be the delivery agent of an everyday miracle in someone’s life.

Prayer
“Lord, thank you that you desire to work everyday miracles in people’s lives. Please help me to be the hands that deliver your goodness into the life of another person. Amen.”