You Are More…

Copyright Sony Pictures

Okay, so I just saw “Soul Surfer” today.  You know the story of Bethany Hamilton.  If you haven’t seen it… apparently you’re busier than I am.  Bless your heart.  Here’s the condensed version.  A young girl who had always surfed was training one day for a surfing tournament when she lost her arm in a shark attack.  After which she questioned God’s plan for her life.

Along with being a strong athlete, she was close with God and very active in her youth group.  So, you begin to question, “why would God allow something like this to happen”?  Why would He allow someone who was truly one of His children to be mauled by a beast?  Why didn’t He intervene and stop the shark from attacking her?  That one I can’t explain.  I wish I could.  Sometimes bad things happen to good people.  But WE have to CHOOSE how we handle the situation.

What really moved me to write again, specifically about this, was the e-mail that followed.  It was titled, “You Have More In You Than You Think”.  Now what is the chance I watch this movie at this particular time followed by THAT e-mail immediately following the movie?  I would say very slim.  Except for Divine intervention.  It’s a little scary though.  Because I’m wondering if it is preparing me for something I think I can’t handle?  God does that you know?  Not only does he prepare us, He walks with us through whatever the challenge in life may be.  Why?  Because He wants us to trust Him with everything.  I mean EVERYthing.   Which brings me to a tweet I saw from Rick Warren today.  “You haven’t really trust God until you’ve attempted something you could never do in your own power”.  What an amazing statement!

This young girl used her faith to get her through a very trying time.  In the process she learned what is really important in life, which is our relationship with God and with each other.  When Christ spoke to a crowd of people that were following him He said we should not only love people who love US put people who don’t. (Mathew 5).  In that same chapter He called Christians “the light of the world”.

So whatever your loss may be today, remember that God is with you and wants you to trust Him.  Will you get an answer immediately?  Probably not.  Will you get the answer you WANT?  Maybe not.  Will you be happier having gone through this trial and knowing that God had everything under control?  Absolutely!  If you’re a Christian, put some works with your faith.  Follow the lead of God, get into His word, and be ready to hear what He wants you to do.  Let Him show YOU how He can take a significant loss and use it for His glory and honor!  He wants to take your financial hardship and bring you closer to people you may not have met if not for this challenge.  Let Him take a broken spirit and bring you closer to someone who really needs what you can offer.

If you’re not a believer, I really wish you’d give God a chance.  He loves you.  There are so many theories as to how we should live our lives.  But there are only two final destinations, neither of which we can fathom.  One is of eternal bliss.  The other is eternal torment.

Pick up a Bible and see what the wonderful God that created the universe and everything in it has to offer for those that believe and trust in Him.

Thank you Father for your grace and mercy.  Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share Your Word with those who need to hear.  Help me to be a better servant and witness for You.  In the precious name of Your Son Jesus, who died an agonizing death so we could have life, Amen!

Are miracles for today?

A miracle is an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpassing all known human or natural powers and credited to a supernatural cause.

I asked a group of friends if they believed in miracles or was that only for the early church.  Of course, if you believe in the deity of God, you have to believe in miracles or the whole concept is a mute point, right?

I loved the responses I got.

Leslie said her life as a whole was a miracle.  Surviving a car accident at age 5 and meeting her husband after some rough teenage and young adult years.

Carol said, “Every child is a miracle”.

Candice said, “God is always working miracles but sometimes we are (too) blind to see what he has done”.

Kathy said, “God healed me from cancer”.

Michelle said, “Every time one of my babies was born! And the day he gave them back to me!”

David said, “One day as I was working I met a man that I had never seen before.   As we talked, he said he was sick and asked if I would pray with him so he could make it through the day at work.   As we walked in his house, I did not trust him, so as we prayed I kept my eyes open.  When we finished praying, He said, ‘God gave me a message’.   I thought, ‘Oh well this dude is a nut’.  Then he said, ‘God said Joe is ok he is with me cry no more’.  Joe was my stepson and he had shot and killed himself 5 months earlier and I had been crying every day. God is alive and well, we just have to listen when he speaks”

Miracles have are a staple of God’s presence from the very beginning.  He created the Universe by just speaking.  Man was formed from the dust of the ground.  Then there are the popular miracles we all remember from our Sunday school classes.  The fish and the loafs (Mark 6:32-44, Mark 8, Matt, Matt. 14:13-21, Matt. 15:32-38) which he did twice by the way, the miracles performed through Moses (start with Exodus 4), Jonah and the Whale, Sodom and Gomorrah, and so forth.

But let’s go back to Mark 8 for a second.  Specifically verses 11-13. (NKJV)

“Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But Hesighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you,no sign shall be given to this generation.”  And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.

I’ll go back to Candice’s statement.  “Sometimes we are (too) blind to see what He has done.” 

When we think of miracles, we expect them on the magnitude of those in the Bible or like David’s above.  Miracles WE WANT to see.  What are we looking for?  Many times, I have thought God was not there because I felt He had not answered my prayer with a miracle.  However, what if the correct answer, not the one I was looking for, was beyond my understanding.  Maybe we should spend more time looking for what God has for US rather than what WE have for God?

Let us think about it like cable or satellite television.  It is always there, in color and high-definition for many channels.  Now we can enjoy the programming if we have the right receiver.  Without the proper receiver, we will not get anything, even though it is there.

It is possible to receive all that God has to offer us IF WE ARE WILLING TO RECEIVE IT!  Miracles included.

As David said, “we just have to listen when He speaks”.