Do You Believe in the Power of
Small Miracles?
Good Morning Friends,
There may have been times in your life when you felt like you needed a parting of the seas to survive. But God does not seem to work that way now. Today though, I think we need to look beyond the Cecil B. DeMille’s drama of Big Miracles and experience God directing our energies to help fight for the little guy… the least, last and lost… in extraordinary coincidences each and every day to make a great impact over time. Along this train of thought today we compare the wonder of the grand scale to a more personal healing that Jesus desired to keep quiet. Today we expose the potential of time and small actions as an expression of love. Do You Believe in the Power of
Small Miracles?
Scripture: As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the LORD will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. But you lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may go into the sea on dry ground. Then I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and so I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gained glory for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.” The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. At the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt.”
Exodus 14:10-25 (NRSV)
Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’
Mark 7:31-37 (NRSV)
Message: Maybe you have experienced a moment when a seemingly random event felt extra special and full of meaning and it overflowed into a spiritual burst of importance in your life. Maybe it was nothing less than the power of a small miracle that draws out of our ordinary lives a profound and remarkable gift and blessing and a sense of harmony with the universe of possibilities. That is what happened to the deaf man in today’s scripture.
Compare that to those times we are caught between the Pharaoh and the deep Red Sea. Here at the end of our rope we so easily convince ourselves that we cannot get any better. We might find security in obedience but typically when we are so challenged, we are inclined to tell ourselves lies in our search for safety and security. We tell ourselves the lies that our safety can be found in a place or in earthly power. Our thinking is too often foolish and can so easily lead us back into slavery. The alternative, when our faith is put to the test, is to sense and obey the Spirit believing that it is not foolish to trust God when we recognize His purpose. Friends, each and every day God wants to make His glory known to others…He wants to teach us to trust Him completely…to share in His perspective and rely on His promises. Friends the Lord will fight for you in the small miracles…look for them and let them strengthen and permeate your relationship with God. Sometimes friends it is not a coincidence at all but confirmation of God’s presence filling us with meaning and value. As people in general, and Americans in particular, we are inclined to measure the import of an event in terms of the scale of its effect. However in Mark’s story we see a small relatively insignificant miracle recorded in preference to the large scale healing that Matthew records about the same period and contrast it with the parting of the Red Sea. Here we might also see that the smaller scale, more personal approach can bring Christ into closer focus. C. S. Lewis said that, “Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.” Maybe that is the message Christ wants our hearts to experience.
Pray we learn to trust God in every situation. Pray we stay positive under pressure. Pray we stop feeling helpless and hopeless. Pray that when we come to what looks like a dead end we focus on the hope we have in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Pray that our prayers lead us to action. Pray we not resign ourselves to living a mediocre life. Pray our faith not fail. Pray we stand firmly grounded in our faith that God never fails. Pray we share in experiences that honor God. Pray we awaken in rebirth to the promise and miracle of the abundant and bounteous life. Pray we see, hear and even feel God uphold all things with the word of his power. Pray we find time to be compassionate. Pray we experience the power in small miracles.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 