WATCHWORD:
In that day, you will say: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name; make known among the nations what He has done, and proclaim that His name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for He has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you. Isaiah 12:4-6 (Verse-A-Day)
Commentary — Today is a day worthy of praising the Lord. Every day is a gift from God, and we live these days under the authority and mercy of God in Heaven.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 1 Cor. 13:12
Meditation:
Have you ever seen a miracle? No? Are you sure? Maybe you were part of it, and you have no recollection of having been there, or seen it, or heard it. Maybe, without you knowing it, someone had observed you doing something for the Lord, and it caused them to think, to pray, to act. Just a little thing, a seedling.
There are some that believe miracles happen all the time, all around us. Are you one of those? We hear about miracle drugs, miracle this, miracle that, and maybe that’s all just advertising. Or is it?
Do you dream? Ever wake up in the morning and realize you had this wonderful, beautiful dream but you can’t recall enough to explain it to another, what was in that dream. In all probability that dream lasted a millisecond in your mind, yet you would swear to all the details, if you could only recall.
I’m not saying that miracles are like dreams. But I am wondering if miracles are more than we think they are. What if miracles are little snippets that come into our lives, that taken separately have little meaning, or we hardly notice, yet, taken together — something special.
This little meditation is not so much about miracles, but about the movement of God among us, within us. What one author has called “Holy Nudges”, or a gathering of settings, or circumstance, or something we read or prayed about, that moves us in a particular way. Maybe something that touches our heart that causes us to think, or speak, or act.
In this little story, I am writing (sorry about that), there is a character named Caledonia. She has been a chuck wagon cook on cattle drives, became head chef at a dude ranch, then retired to write crazy little stories that seem to sell. Asked how she wrote books in the middle of an abandoned prairie town, she talked about being inspired, and so much of her stories just “kinda wrote themselves.” When asked if she considered that there might be a Higher Power at work, she brushed that off with, “I don’t believe in stuff like that.” But the seed, or the holy nudge, was planted.
It is hard to go through life as a Christian and not feel Holy nudges, those times when circumstances may have brought you to a different conclusion than you expected. Maybe a detour that brought you into contact with a family in distress. Maybe it was the church that brought you into new ways of serving that you had never thought about.
I like the image of a sunrise over a strand of mountains or the sun dipping into the ocean, that causes you to contemplate the beauty of God’s creation and it drives you closer to Him.
Or a loved one is in the hospital, and the nature of the illness requires separation. You are both filled with the pain of absence from one another and fear of the unknown, and in your distress, you turn to Him. Some nudges, some miracles, carry pain.
Then, you may recall God’s word:
Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. [c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 1 Corinthians 13:12
None of these things seem like miracles on the face of them, but each one is a grace handed down by God. Maybe that’s the definition of miracle that we should cling to. Sure, we would like to be part of what one friend has called “the grand slam”, but we do not always see the work that God is doing, for we “see things imperfectly”, but, then, we will know…
Little miracles, happening every day. Graces touching each moment, of each day, of each week, throughout our lifetimes. Praise the Lord, for He is good, His mercies are new every day. Amen.
Stan
Bulletin Board:
Here, read, think and smile –
• If an anonymous comment goes unread, is it still irritating
• What is the sound of no hands texting?
Prayer for the Morning:
Lord, we ask today for more of Your Holy Spirit in our lives. So many in our family and friends are hurting and need the touch of your Holy Spirit. Lord, it can be easy for us to become consumed with the fears that surround us in life, but we know that just as Your eye is indeed on the sparrow, so, also, we know that You watch over us.
Teach us today to become more reliant on You. Bring us into a greater discernment of how You operate, so that we may come into a deeper understanding that all we see with natural eyes is not all that is. Today we ask for eyes to see Your hand in all matters, and hearts open to Your work, with the strength of faith that trusts You in all things. Amen.
