The Greater Blessing, the Bigger Miracle!

A few weeks ago, I hunted high and low for a shopping list which usually hangs on our fridge. But despite spending half an hour looking for it, it seemed to have vanished into thin air. Finally, I knew I had to get to the shops post haste, in order to beat the schools' rush on my return journey. Alas, my mind was like a scrubbed out blackboard – completely blank about what I needed to buy at the shops!

I knew what to get at Woolworths, even without a list. Bananas, grapes, a salad, asparagus, apples, pears, tissue boxes. Soon after … it was time to wander into another supermarket. I prayed then, asking God to help me buy what I needed at Foodland, even without a shopping list. And believe it or not, the Holy Spirit took over. Really! I was amazed! Like an efficient Robot completing his tasks to his owner's satisfaction, I moved easily and efficiently to do what the needed that day.

At every aisle I'd pause … and instantly, an item (or two or three) would come to mind. I'd walk down the aisle to get them. It happened over and over again. The Holy Spirit and I made a perfect team … I trust He thinks so too! God let me know that day, that no concern of mine is too small for Him. And that if I am willing to partner with Him – He is always ready to help me. I finished my shopping in good time to beat the schools' rush – I even had a green traffic light on the way home. Now that never happens! After I got back home, I had a text from my son reminding me of three things he had requested to me to buy that day. The Holy Spirit had reminded me of those too. Wow!

Sometimes God doesn't answer prayer in the way I would like. He didn't help me find my shopping list. Instead, He surprised me by getting the job done anyway, causing an astounded Wow from the depths of my heart. Often, the blessing is not when he leads me out of the crisis and into safety. The greater blessing is when He provides grace for me to get through my trials and grows me through it.

Four weeks ago, I had a nasty surprise. An unwelcome visitor, Shingles! Arrrggh! I'd have shut my door to him if I could! For three long weeks, I had to limit the use of my right arm (which is why, incidentally, my blog is two weeks late)! The nerve pain in my arm and fingers and palm was often unbearable. I confess I had a few angry meltdowns, asking God why He allowed it. But as with all other concerns, He simply asked me to trust Him with this too.

Now, four weeks on, I'm thankful for bigger blessings. That the pain has been lessening all the while. That many wonderful folk have been standing in the gap, praying for me. That their love has soothed me. That I had yet another opportunity of learning to trust God through a challenging time. The last few years have been difficult ones –with plenty of moments I'd rather have not walked through! But the greater blessing is He has revealed Himself to me through my suffering more than any other way.

Are you facing a battle or an obstacle where there seems to be no way out but through? Hang in there, dear friend. The greater miracle is that beauty is being formed within you through your bewildering circumstances. In C.S. Lewis' famous Screwtape letters, a senior devil writes to a junior devil and mentions what faith in the midst of difficulty means: "Be not deceived, Wormwood, our cause is never more in jeopardy than when a human, no longer desiring but still intending to do our Enemy's will, looks round upon a universe in which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys."

So let's keep that faith candle burning steadily! Let's keep looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith, with hearts full of hope and trust. Let's find our way through, knowing that after being tossed on stormy and perilous seas, we can be confident of finding safe and sure harbour in a beautiful, sun-kissed land. What Satan intended for harm, God will overturn for good. You can count on it.

When I was little girl, I read some lines that resonated in my spirit, written by a clergyman who was the writer of the popular Christmas carol 'O Little Town of Bethlehem" I pasted his wise words on my bedroom wall. "O do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men (and women). Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you yourself shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, at the richness of life which has come to you by the grace of God." Philip Brookes (1835-1893)

Perhaps it's time I really meant that prayer and lived it out? If God removed all hardship from our lives, we would not grow. We would not become more like Jesus. We would not be transformed into all that you and I have been created to be! 

What then shall we seek? 

The easy way out? 

Or God's unique way through? 

The miracle that prevents our growth? 

Or the journey that brings us closer to Himself?

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 1 Cor 4:16-18