Last night at about 8:00 p.m., I experienced a miracle. “A miracle?” you say. Now just so I can validate that statement, let me give you a definition of the word “miracle.”
miracle (mir-uh-kuh-l) – an extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses known human or natural powers and is ascribed a supernatural cause. A wonder; marvel. Such an effect or event manifesting or considered as a work of God.
Last night (Wednesday, October 29) at 8:00 p.m., our youngest daughter gave birth to her third daughter. Lucy Jay Canady came into the world, weighing in at 7 pounds and 2 ounces. She is radiant. She looks so much like her big sisters, Claire and Mia, but she is her own little person.
Mike, Lucy’s Daddy, and Roi Lene, Lucy’s Grandma were in the delivery room assisting the doctor. The rest of the gallery waited outside when suddenly, we heard the cry of a newborn. Minutes later Roi Lene came out of the room announcing, “She’s here!” Roi Lene was visibly shaken…in a good way. She had seen the wonder of child birth while at the same time realizing this was the work of a good, kind and loving God.
Now I know, you might say, “A miracle surpasses known human or natural powers…,” and this baby was born because of human intimacy and required human cooperation. I absolutely agree. However, to see this beautiful little body with ten fingers, ten toes, crying to be swaddled and cuddled, immediately knowing who her Momma was and desiring to suckle is a miracle. And though I realize this miracle takes place commonly around the world at any given moment, the beauty of God’s hand is all over this miraculous event.
Just because something is common doesn’t make it any less miraculous. Sadly, we become so accustomed to certain things happening; we quit appreciating the miraculous of it all.
We woke up this morning to sunshine. A miracle. As we walked out into the world, we see a world teaming with life. A miracle. To think that there was a time when I did not know, neither was I interested in knowing the Great God who loved me. And then in a moment, Father God revealed His great love, revealed to me the work of the cross and drew me to Himself so that I could be His child. I was born again and it was a miracle. God’s Holy Spirit entered my life, how I do not know, and came to reside in my heart promising never to leave me or forsake me.
As Christians, we can take things for granted. We forget the wonder of God’s work within us. My life was forever changed. And though I was much like Lucy; weak, needy, fragile, undeveloped; resident within me was the potential to become a person of faith and a minister of reconciliation. I was at that very moment justified, blessed in every way, redeemed and set free. I was adopted into God’s family, called His beloved and loved with an everlasting and unconditional love. All of this was prepared for me by my Father and the only thing I had to do to experience this miracle was to believe it was true.
Today, thank God for His miraculous work both in you and around you. Take a bit more time to realize that the world is filled with the miraculous. Be awed by it and step in and enjoy it.