A Miracle

I’d always believed in miracles, but I thought of them as in the Bible stories – a man is raised from the dead, five loaves feed five thousand people, fire comes down from heaven, and so on. Sometimes I’d read mission stories of courageous people in faraway heathen countries, and miracles happened for them too. But the idea of miracles was a distant thing – something that happened a long time ago, or in a faraway country, or to other people. 

But, I’ve been noticing that miracles aren’t old-fashioned; they happen every day, and they even happen to me. Every breath, every new day, and all the circumstances that are so much more than coincidence; the way God has been planning my life, and orchestrating experiences – it is a miracle.

Like I mentioned, I finished school last year, and that left me in a ‘what’s next?’ stage. I stressed about, because society expected that I’d either go to uni, or get a job, and I did neither. I’ve got no problems with working or studying, but that just didn’t work out. I was praying about it all, and I wanted big bold answers. I wanted God to send me a letter or something, and tell me exactly what I should be doing. He didn’t. But, He arranged circumstances and opportunities in ways that were evident that He does have a plan. It’s different to what I thought, but it’s beautiful, and it’s more than I could’ve imagined. There’s God for you. 

Many years ago, I had that desire to be a missionary. I presumed that would, of course, mean going to Africa. But I remember praying about it, and distinctly receiving an impression from God: what about your own country? Ever since then, I’ve been convicted that my work is still missionary work, but it’s happening right here. Of course, I still fantasized about lonely outposts in the middle of nowhere, working with Aboriginal kids maybe – you know, real missionary style. But then, God brought it even closer to home: what about your own community, your closest town? 

That’s why when I started canvassing it was an answer to so many dreams, hopes, and prayers. It was God’s clear answer, His directing. It was a way that I could share with the people in my town, and it wasn’t complicated. I didn’t have to move to the desert, or give up other commitments. I could do it at my own pace (although, this isn’t always a good thing!), and it even paid a tiny bit. But, I needed someone to do it with; my family preferred I wasn't in town, on the street alone, and they had too many commitments to join me regularly. But God knew that, and already had an answer. A friend came to the area, and due to her circumstances, she had very few commitments: the answer to my difficulty. 

It sounds simple, but this has been one of the biggest miracles I’ve experienced. God worked out a way that I could live this year, do the things I needed to, and yet have the opportunity to work for Him as well. Everything I was stressed about has just been absorbed into this plan. I’m not going to say it’s all peaches and cream – I still have questions about long-term, there are days when it’s hard. But two things make it worth it: knowing that you’re in the place where God wants you, and experiencing the joy of being a blessing to someone else. Albert Einstein said, ‘There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.’ And I can say from experience, living as though everything is a miracle is much more exciting. :)

And, I know God’s miracle working power is not exclusive! What miracles, even tiny ones, has God worked in your life and circumstances? What are your thoughts on being a missionary? What plans do you have for this year?  

P.s Even if this does sound like making decisions about my life was easy: it wasn't. There were times I wondered where God was. So, if you're going through a situation like that, wondering what you're meant to be doing, experiencing hard times, all I can say is hold on. He will reveal Himself to you, and in the end, that will be the greatest miracle. 

 P.p.s It's a step for me to share all this, but reading through Acts and also this post, has inspired and convinced me of the power of a simple testimony. I pray it was of help to someone, and if I may encourage you: I'd really like to hear yours next. :)

Before We Called...

“And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” Isaiah 65:24 This is God speaking, through Isaiah, about what it's going to be like in the new heaven and earth. But sometimes we get to experience a little bit of heaven on earth; God answers our prayers before we've even thought to pray them. I've noticed that happen twice in the last week, and I want to share it with you...

Last Thursday night, I was in my bedroom, possibly being silly as my overtired crazy behaviour kicked in. Anyway, I was considering my shoes, a few pairs of which were lined up on the floor. The furthermost pair were a white pair of flats which I've practically lived in for the last year or so. They've taken me around town many times, and even bushwalking etc. As such, they're in a sad state, and not so presentable anymore. So as I looked at them there, I thought to myself, “I'd better start looking around – in op shops or on sale -  for another pair.” I gotten that last pair at an op shop for cheap – and they were very close to brand new too. The thought began and ended there, and I moved on. The very next day, however, we were in town for another reason, and we decided to go into a shop we'd never been to before. It's called a boutique, so we were just looking – those places aren't normally affordable. But when we got in there we discovered that it was actually like an upper class op shop, selling only brand names; yet their prices were still very reasonable. Amongst everything else, there were a pair of shoes, black flats, size 8 ½. I put them on and they fitted. They were a good brand, and promised to last long and be comfortable. They were a cheap price, and they looked brand new. I hesitated because they weren't exactly what I had in mind, but then I remembered my thoughts of the night before, and decided that God must've been answering my unspoken prayer – and so soon! We bought them, and I've decided I do actually like them, and that they're a little gift from God just for me. :)

Then, actually that Friday night, my Mum expressed her thoughts about how nice it would be to have a bit more fellowship for Sabbaths, particularly the one we were just about to begin. We'd discussed this all before, and come to the same conclusion as we did that night – there is no one else, locally, around us. Still, one can wish. I don't know if my Mum prayed about it that night, but the next morning we got a text message to say that we were having extra visitors for the day! We were excited to say the least. We had a great day together, and even discussed meeting up and doing it again. It reminded me again of the verse “before they call, I will answer” - before we'd even prayed about it, the answer came, and from a place we didn't really expect.

Another verse, which I sort of got mixed up with the one above, describes this as well: “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Jeremiah 33:3 It's exciting to see the fulfilment of these verses, even in such seemingly small ways; before we prayed God answered, and showed us great and mighty things which we knew not. Thank-you God!

How has God been answering your prayers? Have you ever had an experience where God answered your unspoken prayer? Please do share; I enjoy reading all your comments so much. :)

Jessica xxx

Guest Post - Power of Prayer

Today I have a guest post for you. :) Or a semi-guest post maybe. Semi because the guest is my sister, Rachel (Thanks Chook!), and I helped her write it... Happy readings! :)    

"...We do not value the power and efficacy of prayer as we should. Prayer and faith will do what no power on earth can accomplish..." (HDL 56.3)

I'd like to tell you about a time when my prayers and faith accomplished what no power on earth could.

It was May 2012. One of my sister's rabbit's kittens had just died. It was the third time my sister's rabbit had kittens. It was the third time I had wanted to keep one for my own. It was the third time that the one that I loved, died. It didn't seem like I would ever get a rabbit, so Mum said I could get a lamb.

Next week we went to town. We'd done all our shopping, and were, I thought anyway, heading home, when Mum pulled over behind a car, that I recognized as a friend's car. She came to our car window and told Mum something. Then Mum said to me "Why don't you go see what she has in the back of her car?" So I did. I opened the boot of her car and inside was a box. And inside the box was...nothing. But outside the box was a small white lamb. And he was mine.

On the way home name suggestions were flying everywhere, and I finally decided on using about half of them. So my small white lamb received the title of 'Obadiah Albert Timothy Mitchell Micah James Granger.' Obee for short.

Obee seemed healthy enough, but we soon realized that he wasn't. He relished his milk, but there's a limit to how much milk a lamb can drink...when he hasn't gotten rid of the last bottleful. In other words my lamb had problems going to the toilet. I had seen several other lambs, including one of the previous ones I had, in this state of affairs and none of them lived to tell the story. Would my Obee come to the same fate? History repeats itself and I feared this would be the case. But I did more than feared. I prayed.

James 5:15 says 'And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up.' And John 14:14 says 'If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.' Through a lot of prayer and faith, and many olive oil enemas lovingly administered by my sister, he got going a bit better.

I remember one Friday afternoon, Obee looked particularly sick. He was lying out in the sun, while we industriously cleaned the house. About every fifteen minutes I would either go to my room and pray, or go out to Obee and pray. It was hard to have faith that he would get well, especially when several members of my family had taken to calling him 'dead', and Oba-die-ah.

The next day we went over to our friends' place. Seeing as we were going to be gone the whole day, I took Obadiah with me. He wasn't getting any better, and the suggestion was made to leave the 'dead' lamb there. I refused, because I had asked God to make him better, and I knew He would. So Obee came home again. Many more prayers, many more tears, many more enemas, and many more days - Obadiah Albert Timothy... became well happy and healthy, just like all of his other sheepie friends.

Right now, looking out the window, I can see Obee, happily grazing, with his mouth full of green grass. He's fat and woolly. He's currently, still eating (no blockage now!), continuing on his merry way down our driveway paddock with his mate Mr. Phib. He is living proof that God answers prayer.

Obadiah Albert Timothy Mitchell Micah James Granger. :) 

Prayer...

About a week ago I was reading A Man Called Peter by Catherine Marshell, and an excerpt from one of Peter's sermons, "Why Worry", stood out to me. It was an answer to the often asked question, "How much should I do to help God answer my prayers, and how much should I leave to Him?" I thought it was a really good explanation of why sometimes it seems God doesn't answer our prayers. 


"When faced with problems that worry us, we should, by all means, talk them over with the Lord.
We should, because He wants us to, turn the matter over to Him.
But God may insist on bringing up other matters as a prerequisite to His answering our prayers.

If we want to trust God,
   but feel that our faith is hardly strong enough for such a venture, then we can, with every confidence, ask Him to give us the faith too,

for faith is a gift of God. 

What, after all, do I mean, when I speak of taking worries to the Lord and leaving them there?

Let me use the simplest illustration of which i can think.

Suppose a child has a broken toy.

He believes that his father can mend it.

He brings the toy to his father, saying that he himself has tried to fix it and has failed.

He asks his father to do it for him.

The father gladly agrees...

   takes the toy

      and begins to work.

Now obviously, the father can do his work most quickly and easily, if the child makes no attempt to interfere, but simply sits quietly watching.

   or even goes about other business

with never a doubt that the toy is being sucessfully mended.

But what do most of God's children do in such a situation?

Often we stand by, offering a lot of meaningless advice and some rather silly criticism.

We even get a little impatient, because it is taking so long,

   and we try to help

      and get our hands in the Father's way, generally hindering His work. 

Finally, in our desperation, we may even grab the toy out of our Father's hands entirely, saying rather bitterly that we hadn't really thought He could fix it anyway,

   that we had given Him a chance,

       and that He had failed us.

There are times when God asks us to mend some broken relationships,

   to do something to make the way straight before Him.

But never forget that His plans may include simply turning over your problem

   doing nothing else...

       just shutting out all doubt and worry.

This is the kind of solution that God loves because it glorifies Him.

And we are glad to say:

   "I didn't do anything but just believe.

    God did it all.

       Give Him the credit.!"

Why not give Him the chance with your problems?

God can fix it for you.

He is eager to do it."

Answered Prayer

 Remember a few weeks ago, the post I did ‘A Thought on Prayer? In that post I came to the conclusion that if we never ask God for specific things, we are never going to get specific answers, and thus our prayers seem to go unanswered.

When I did that post, I decided to ask God for something specific. I prayed that we would have some visitors come and stay, because we don’t often have visitors. And guess what…? Only a couple of weeks later, we had visitors. They came and stayed the weekend, and we talked, and we played music together, and we had a really great time together. 

So thanks Duke Family for coming and staying, (you're welcome back any time) , and thanks God, for answering my prayer. :) 

How has God answered your prayers lately?

~

The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. Proverbs 10:22  

A Thought on Prayer

This morning in our study time, a comment on prayer was made, that really got me thinking. The comment was ‘Maybe we don’t ask enough.’ Jesus tells us in John 14:14  ‘If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.’ And then He says in John 16:24  ‘Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.’ Think about it. We say ‘Oh, God doesn't answer my prayers.’ But have we asked for anything? Specifically?

Maybe He just didn't answer them the way we wanted, or expected. But He always answers them for our good. In fact, ‘God never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him.’  {MH 479.2}

So, I want to encourage you, (like I am encouraging myself) to ask God for more, so that we can receive more, and our ‘joy may be full.’ J

~

Psalms 18:29  For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.