Miracles

Today, as I snuggled babies and basked in love, I thought back to the time when Aleeda was in hospital. She was sick and dying and it was not a pretty time in our lives. During that time we received lots of encouragement and prayers from family, friends, church family, and strangers. One thing that we commonly heard was how people were praying for a miracle, people wanted Aleeda to miraculously be made whole. I get it. I understand the feelings that led people to this prayer. It is incredibly hard to watch a child suffer, to see someone so small hover so close to death. And as Christians we crave intervention from a God who we know is Almighty. We want proof sometimes. And while there is nothing wrong with praying for miracles, I have found from experience that miracles are not always God’s plan. Sometimes the plan follows a path of suffering and difficulty. Sometimes God’s work is best displayed not in grand gestures, but in steadfast support and strength as I journey through difficult times that will increase my faith in much bigger ways. I have found it harder to pray for and trust in God’s will than to believe I will get a miracle. For me, in praying for a miracle, there is danger that I will believe in a small way that my plans are better. There is danger that, were I to be granted a miracle, I would try to take some credit because it was my prayers that brought it on. I love that people wanted the best for my family. I love that I can and do believe in a God of miracles. What I have learned to love more is that God’s will and plan for my life is greater than any miracle He could ever bestow on my life. So now I pray first for His will and second for a miracle, knowing that miracles will not happen outside His plan. And I have already been given the greatest miracle in the gift of life eternal. So my encouragement to you is to reverse the order of prayer. Pray first for the will of your loving Father, then pray for a miracle, knowing that He knows best and that sometimes the best lessons happen within the struggles of suffering. May I remember this lesson always and learn to rejoice and be thankful for the suffering that will purify my life and increase my faith.