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| photo from http://arunoday.blogspot.com |
So they asked him,
"What miraculous sign then will you give
that we may see it and believe you?
What will you do?"
John 6:30 NIV
I do not usually blog on the weekends since I am normally running in a thousand directions while also trying to spend as much time as possible with my hubby. Today is no exception. If I complete my to-do list before guests arrive tomorrow, it will be a miracle.
The Bottom of the Well
Praying for a miracle is actually the reason I am writing. If you have not read my last blog, I hope you will pause now and do so. You will find that I described the story of Joseph, a man who found himself in one seemingly hopeless predicament after another. As a youth, God revealed in dreams that Joseph would rule over his siblings and family. Yet, the course of his young adult life did not seem to follow any sort of path toward the fulfillment of his dreams. He was thrown into a well, sold into slavery, falsely imprisoned, and awarded the difficult task of preparing a nation for a famine. Many, many years later, his dreams did come to fruition in the most unlikely of ways.
Girlfriends, my message to you today comes from the lonely place at the bottom of the well. As Joseph sank into the depths, crash landed, and lay broken and bruised on a cold, hard surface, I am certain he prayed. And I believe he must have prayed for a miracle, because that is what it would take to raise him from this hopeless pit. Do you know what I mean? Have you been to that place? Does Joseph's story parallel yours, now, or at some time in the past? If not, listen still, because chances are good that one day in this life, you, too, will fall face down into the abyss. God does not say "if"; He says "when..." Every one of us has an empty cistern with our name on it.
Not the uplifting, inspirational word you wanted to get on a sunny, weekend morning? Oooops, sorry! Seriously though, my intention is indeed to raise your spirits if you are in a dark place, to increase your faith and hope in the future. Girlfriends, Joseph prayed for a miracle, and he got one! He was pulled from the well. He did not die there. Miraculously, a caravan of Midianite traders passed by and were willing to buy him in order to profit in Egypt where he would be sold as a slave. Probably not the miracle Joseph expected nor desired, but he experienced a miracle nonetheless.
A Miracle: Unanticipated Answer
Ladies, God answers prayer. God performs miracles. But God will not be put into a box of our expectations and wishes. He works out of the box, in this crazy, messed up world, through unique methods only He could contrive. I mean, who among us would answer a desperate man's plea to save his life by selling him into servitude in a foreign land? Craziness, by the world's standards, is what that response would be. But God's ways are higher than ours, and He knows exactly the resolution our problem needs.
So today, my dears, put your trust in the Only One who can perform the miracle you need. Keep your faith. Expect a miracle. But do not put a face on it, or a label, or a time/date stamp. See through the eyes of your Savior, the God who knit you together in your mother's womb. With precision, He directs the course of your life and will provide unerringly all that is necessary. Your task is the same as Joseph's: to respond positively, in faith, and produce good fruit in every environment no matter how hopeless or absurd it seems. The choice is yours to make. God gives generously, according to His blueprint, but He allows you to be the carpenter, to build something beautiful, or to sit in an empty lot waiting for what you think the supplies and plans should be. What will you do?
Girlfriends, I am praying for you today. With great expectation, I long to witness God's miracle for you and what you will create in response! Peace be with you.
But he said, "What is impossible with men is possible with God." Luke 18:27 ESV
