Beyond Imagination

I believe that God is constantly working miracles in our lives. After reading all of the miracles recorded in the Bible, people tend to wonder why God rarely performs such miracles in this day and age. (I use the word "rarely" rather than "never" as a precautionary measure.) Sure, God hasn't parted the Red Sea lately, but I believe that God still visibly works miracles in our lives today. In fact, I think we are all living, breathing miracles. I can think of two areas in our lives in which we can see this miracle-making taking place day by day.

1) Answers to prayer--
James 5:16 says that "the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." Another version translates that "the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." It has always boggled my mind that the God who created the Universe not only listens to the simple (and often selfish) words of my prayers, but actually answers them. Can't we all attest to God answering our prayers, and is that not a miracle? Even better, God has a way of answering prayers above and beyond what we wanted or expected.
For instance: At the end of last year, we started a Friday morning Bible Study at Ferris. I was ready to be content with small attendance, which is what we had, but for the past few weeks I was lucky if just one other person showed up besides myself. Naturally, it was a little discouraging, especially as I also saw our prayer group of a year and a half dissipate at the same time. I had been praying that God's will would be done with the Bible Study. I had merely hoped that it could be sustained, but last Friday I figured I'd be quitting the group if things turned out per usual. I had only mentioned the group to somebody one time during the past week. So, imagine my surprise when I entered the room and found five people with their Bibles open, three of which being Freshmen/Sophomores I had never met before! I found a group of excited, radical Christians who wanted to get together to study God's Word, reach out to the rest of the Christians in the school, and be a witness to others on a daily basis. Let me tell you, it blew my mind away and incredibly humbled me to see such a group. They even showed up at 7AM when the group doesn't officially start until 7:30. (which is a big deal for those of us who would rather not get up before noon :) The point of the matter is that God took my simple desire and prayer that the group would be sustained and did something totally unexpected and far greater than what I had imagined. It isn't often that I see God work as visibly as that, but the fact still remains: it's a miracle. Afterwards I remembered Ephesians 3:20: "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us"... You can't imagine the great things that God can do in your life! =)

2) The evidence of God making you more like Christ--
We believe that God is creating each of us to be in the perfect image of Christ. (Hebrews 10:14) It was a miracle when you were saved, but it doesn't end there, as the Holy Spirit continues to change our thoughts, attitudes, and actions so that they are more in tune with those of Christ. Sometimes these changes don't seem very visible to us, but think back over the past few years, or ask somebody who knows you really well, and see if you can't think of anything that has changed in relation to your growth as a Christian. Recently I was looking back through my message history over ICQ (an instant messaging program) which has been building up since 1998. I was surprised to find how much I had changed since just a few years ago. My focuses are completely different than what they once were. Of course, don't despair if you don't feel like you're undergoing major changes in your life; God works on everybody in different ways at different speeds: but He does work on everybody. A few years ago, I met a girl on the Internet from Tennessee, at that time in 6th grade, who has since become one of my best friends. Shortly after I got to know her, she became a Christian, and in the next year or two I personally saw her transform into one of the most amazing Christians I have ever known-- and all that from only knowing her through a computer screen. Her spiritual insights into things, although seemingly simple, often astounded me. (I hate how smart people make everything sound so obvious. ;) For awhile I was discouraged because I'd been a Christian a decade longer than her and yet she was instructing me, but I think we should all have peace in our life regardless of where God has placed us in our walk with Him-- yet we should never be content with where we are right now, for none of us are perfect yet. (Philippians 3:12)

It's exciting when we consider all that God is doing in our lives. I encourage you to pray constantly. (Ephesians 6:18, Colossians 4:2) When we get to heaven and see how powerful and effective our prayers really were, I'm sure we'll all wish that we had prayed more often than we do.

--Written by Steven Wakeman (2/18/02)