The Miraculous

We often face situations in life in which we request God to do a miracle. Indeed, in which it seems that the very existence of God hinges on His willingness to perform one. Heal this woman of ALS. Remove the Rheumatoid Arthritis completely from my friend’s body. Stop the young addict's downward spiral, deliver him from addicion, and restore him to his mother.
Sometimes God’s response to our fervent requests seems more like a non-response. The disease escalates. The son gets caught in his addiction and is incarcerated with fearsome criminals. The woman’s arthritis deforms her joints, and riddles her body with pain. And then we feel sheepish for actually believing that God would perform our miracle, and a sense of the futility of faith settles in. We follow up any requests with, “Thy will be done,”, or “Be glorified through this.” more as an escape clause, than a fervent prayer. It seems a safer way of framing the requests should the “miracle” I’m seeking not appear.

A mother daily prays for a sibling for her child. Being in her 40’s has only intensified her desire to give birth to another. Everywhere she looks, she sees others’ burgeoning families and gets reminded of the life she thought would be hers. She wonders why God would embed such a desire within her, and leave it unfulfilled. Yet, she clings tenaciously to God for the grace to ride each swell of longing, and finds much to celebrate in daily moments.
A young woman who loves to hike, rock climb, play the piano, and take on daily adventures, has a body which is increasingly bound by the limits of her rheumatoid arthritis. She watches moms wave as they dash by pushing their jogging strollers, and remembers that used to be her. She watches her husband and son hike their sons’ first peak together, and longs to trek with them. She daily calls out to God for the grace to cope with the pain, and joyfully pours her life and service into her husband, her little ones, her students, the youth she disciples – and stores up insights for the books she will one day write.
A mother daily prays for her incarcerated son. She prays knowing that God is present in that cell with him, and resists being sucked under by despair.
When I see the testimony of individuals surrendering their difficult circumstances to God, and somehow living with contentment and hope, I witness the miraculous. Contentment in desireable circumstances would be believable and completely human. But what about contentment and peace when there is neither earthly evidence nor reason for it? It is clearly Divine.
Jim Berg defines godliness with contentment as: “ that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.” Contentment is not apathy, nor passive resignation. It doesn’t gloss over inner trauma, deny deep longing, or polish reality beyond recognition. Nor does it pretend that the battle for relinquishment and peace has been won once and for all. It is tenacious, clinging to the biblical view of God’s absolute sufficiency in whatever we may face. It fully embraces God while being fully engaged in life, as is. And such contentment is most miraculous when the circumstances scream to the contrary.
Yes, God does perform the miraculous. Sometimes in the ways we most easily recognize it. Yet, more often, the miraculous shows up in unexpected ways. The healing of the woman’s body, would be a once and for all act of God. But God’s impartation of his peace and Presence, thus allowing the sufferer joy and contentment amidst pain and disappointment, is a miracle of daily occurrence.
The greater miracles this side of heaven may not be the averted disasters, or the breath-taking and timely solutions. The most exceptional occurrences are ordinary people in heart-rending circumstances, living in true inner contentment, peace and joy. Ordinary people emerging from each day with purpose, and renewed hope, as partakers of grace.