I still believe in miracles.
Obviously, I wasn’t around when Moses parted the Red Sea. I didn’t see Jesus heal the sick or bring the dead back to life.
And even though I know the same God who did those amazing things is still performing miracles today, I’ve never actually seen one. At least not one on that kind of scale.
Yet I know first-hand that nothing is impossible with God.
Because while I may never have experienced a knock-your-socks off, jaw-dropping miracle, I still see him work in ways that are unexplainable.
All the time.
A door opened. A prayer answered. A life changed.
And while those miracles might seem small when compared with the stories of old, they’re still powerful.
They show us the depth of God’s love. They remind us that every detail of every life is important to him.
And they’re proof that no problem is ever too small to warrant a miracle.
A difficult situation…
We had one of those kinds of miracles recently.
My father-in-law was diagnosed with stomach cancer a few years ago. He fought bravely against the disease with grit, determination, and never-ending positivity.
But a little over a year after the diagnosis, his team of doctors delivered devastating news. They had run out of options. Every possible treatment had been tried.
Nothing had worked.
It appeared cancer had won. At least this time.
Hospice arrangements were made and we did our best to wrap our minds around what was happening.
We wanted to take full advantage of whatever time was left. But my father-in-law deteriorated rapidly. It quickly became clear our time with him would be even shorter than we expected.
We prayed for a miracle.
Terrible Timing…
As we were making plans to visit my father-in-law and support my husband’s family the best we could, our six-year-old suddenly spiked a fever. She had come down with some kind of virus.
It was the worst possible timing.
We couldn’t take her to the hospice facility if she was sick. She would need to be fever-free for 24 hours before she could visit.
And we didn’t know how much longer my father-in-law could hold on.
We decided my husband would stay with his dad as much as possible. And as soon as our daughter was better, the rest of us would join him.
We started praying for a different kind of miracle. That our family would get a chance to say goodbye.
A heart-wrenching plea…
One night shortly after my husband’s father moved to hospice, the entire family was gathered in his room. Kids, spouses, grandchildren. Everyone was there…except my daughters and I.
The disease had taken a tole on my father-in-law’s mental abilities. His once sharp mind and quick wit had turned confused and disoriented.
He repeatedly asked for his granddaughters and couldn’t seem to understand the explanation of their absence.
It was clear he wanted his entire family present. He seemed to know his time was short.
It was heartbreaking to sit at home. And even more difficult for my husband as he repeatedly tried to explain the situation to his dad.
My father-in-law’s condition continued to worsen. And our daughter’s illness didn’t seem to be going anywhere. Time was not on our side.
But we knew nothing is impossible with God
So we kept praying.
A turning point…
And just like that, shortly after my husband’s family had gathered at his father’s bedside, our daughter’s fever broke.
Such a simple thing that had happened countless times before. Yet this was different. God might as well have parted the sea right in front of us.
We were beyond thankful.
The next 24 hours passed at a snail’s pace as we waited to visit the hospice house. As soon as the waiting period was up, we piled in the car and drove to the facility.
It was a difficult visit for all of us, but especially our young girls. They didn’t fully understand what was happening.
But they knew the erratic behavior and incoherent speech didn’t match up with the beloved papa they had last seen.
We explained things the best we could, answered their questions, and tried to calm their nerves. This could be the last time they would see him.
We believed the closure was important. Not only for them, but for him as well. He had been begging for the presence of his entire family. We wanted to honor that request.
We drove home that night with heavy hearts and quite a few tears. A strange combination of sadness, gratefulness, and grief.
Read “The Power of Faith in God to Change Your Circumstances“ for another reminder that nothing is impossible with God.
Nothing is impossible with God…
The next day a strange thing happened. Our daughter’s fever returned. I took her to the pediatrician to make sure the resurgence wasn’t an indicator of a more concerning issue.
After checking her over, the doctors seemed satisfied that all was well. And they were slightly baffled. Their best guess was she had come down with another virus.
Maybe. But I don’t think so.
You see, my father-in-law passed away before we could get back for another visit.
That one evening was the only opportunity my girls and their papa had to say goodbye.
Our daughter’s fever disappeared for exactly the amount of time we needed to make that goodbye happen. I’ll never believe that was a coincidence.
God saw our situation. He heard our prayers. And he delivered just the miracle we needed at the exact moment that it mattered most.
Unexplainable circumstances…
I won’t pretend to understand how God chooses his miracles. Or why some prayers get answered in certain ways and others don’t.
We prayed for my father-in-law to be healed for over a year. And God didn’t deliver on that miracle.
There are many other things I’ve prayed for and God has said no. Big and small.
There have been countless times I’ve longed for a miracle and have been left disappointed.
But I’ve learned that just because God doesn’t work in the way I hope or expect doesn’t mean he’s not working.
Read more on the God of the impossible at “14 Scriptures on Miracles and Wonders.”
God chose not to heal my father-in-law. At least not on this side of heaven.
I’ll probably never understand why.
But he clearly orchestrated a different kind of miracle that was still powerfully significant. And if I only focused on the prayer that wasn’t answered, I might have missed the one that was.
There are miracles all around…
I’ve never seen a Red Sea kind of miracle. And I can only imagine what the miracles of Jesus must have been like.
But I have a life full of experiences like that one with my daughters and their grandpa.
Circumstances that nothing but a miracle can explain. Stories that prove nothing is impossible with God.
Miracles come in all shapes and sizes.
Some of them play out on a grand scale. While others may only affect one life at one moment in time.
But they’re all significant.
They each point to a God more powerful than we can comprehend. And they remind us that same God loves us more than we will ever know.
That holds true even when our prayers are answered differently than we hoped. Even when we’re sad, confused, or angry about how life has played out.
And especially when we don’t understand His ways.
He is still there. Always faithful. Always loving.
Weaving little miracles into our story.
Sometimes, it’s just up to us to see them.
Do you have a miracle story? Big or small, these testimonies remind all of us that nothing is impossible with God. Please share in the comments below!
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