First of two stories
There are all kinds of miracles. There are huge miracles — healings, rescues. There are times when miracles are so awesome that folks simply don’t believe it. Then there are the “little miracles” — the miracles that are hard to describe, that come as a sequence, the kind you have to “be there” to appreciate.
Whichever you are about to receive (and God has a reservoir for every one of us), we open ourselves best for them when we pray, empty ourselves, work at eliminating all selfishness, and let God fill us.
Make room for God, and He will come — on a daily basis!
You will feel the “Hand of the Lord.”
The Hand of the Lord is the biblical term for God’s power in the lives of His people (see Joshua 4:24 and Isaiah 59:1).
“Little children, believe that by simple prayer miracles can be worked,” says the most recent message from Medjugorje. “Through your prayer you open your heart to God and He works miracles in your life.”
That’s quite a promise, but first appreciate that God has to have room to operate — and that there isn’t the room when our doubts and sin and egos block Him. Think of yourself as a bucket. If it is full of yourself — of your own motives, of your own ambitions and lusts — how much grace can God fit in? Is He going to inject nectar into muddy water?
This is where “emptying” comes in. Emptying is getting rid of sin, yes; but it is also letting God. It is stepping out in faith. It is doing everything for Him and letting His power flow. When we seek that, we’re hungering for the Lord, and according to Scripture, “He pulls down princes from their thrones” and “routs the proud of heart” at the same time that “He fills the hungry with good things” — with miracles (Luke 1:51-53).
As it says in that same passage, it is then that He shows “the power of His arm.”
The Lord desires us to follow Him in as strong a fashion as possible, and that means learning to toss away those things — objects, ambitions, habits — that get in the way. When we empty ourselves, He reaches down for us.
Tragic as it might sound, the Hand of the Lord is seldom asked for. We just don’t think to do it. In this life (in the darkness of existence here on earth), it’s hard to step out with the kind of unselfishness that God requires. Yet when we do that and ask for the power of His Hand (with the same innocent faith as the early Church) — when we empty ourselves, confess our sins, and purify — we open a treasure trove of miracles. We can judge if we are empty or full of self by asking a few simple questions. Do we think of ourselves first? Do we look at every situation from our own perspective? Is our first question how something will affect us? Or do we look at everything from the point of view of others?
When we do the latter — every day, in all circumstances of life — our prayers cause constant wonders!
Call them the “little miracles,” prayers for everyday things, but prayers that are swiftly answered. In Acts, the phenomenal success of the early Church was attributed to exactly this.
And we can tap into it too. We are faithful and empty — that is, available for Christ — when we just turn it over to God. Turn it over. You tell Him, “Father, please do this in me. It’s too big. I can’t do it alone!” Let Him speak for you. Let Him act.
The result?
Those “little miracles” — and often ones that aren’t so little.
“God’s power under us, in us, surging through us is exactly what turns dependence into unforgettable experiences,” notes writer Bruce Wilkerson. “Afterwards, your spirit is shouting, God did that, nobody else! God carried me, gave me the words, gave me the power — and it is wonderful!”
–MHB
[Second story later this coming week]
