Clusters of Blessings

Do you have a written list of miracles? Not the ones you’ve been told, but the ones where you know without a doubt that something miraculous occurred for you. Something beyond your ability to reason away. And why do we even try to reason miracles away?

There’s an adage, whatever we look for we find. Like when we go to the beach and train our eyes to look for shark’s teeth, sea glass, coral, or sand dollars. If I’m not concentrating, I’ll miss those beautiful little peach-colored nuggets. But if I have an intention and train my mind, I see them.

Miracles are like that.  I see them multiple times a day. No, not burning bushes. But all day I get miracle “pings” from God that say, “Way-to-go! Keep expecting miracles!” Daily my devotions have miracles in them. I can think of an issue the night before or that morning, and there is the answer when I open my books.

Does it bother you when people call miracles coincidences?

Because we know God is at work.

My little miracle pings excite me because they assure me, I am constantly on His radar!

And I get big miracles too!

Sometimes miracles seem to come in clusters. One very memorable cluster occurred when I was a sophomore in high school. I was sequestered away to boarding school, Southern Pilgrim College in Kernersville, North Carolina, cut off from everyone. But God used my isolation for good. I drew so close to Him. The Pilgrim religion became a warm blanket securely wrapping me in God’s love.  Without supports I did chores to earn money for necessities, cleaning for professors, laundry, yard work. I first noticed the miracle cluster when jobs popped up just as I needed money.

I always had enough. But only enough. Like any other young woman, there were things I wanted.

The “burning bush” type miracles began when girls from the dorm asked me to walk with them into Kernersville for ice cream. They had money. I was too ashamed to say I didn’t. I prayed and ask the Lord if I should go and if I did would He please smooth my way so that I wouldn’t be an awkward outcast when I told my friends I just came along for their company. So grateful to be included, I walked with six girls on a two-lane rural road for a couple of miles. But during the walk, my eyes were continually drawn to coins in the gravel along the shoulders. By the time we arrived at Dairy Queen, I had enough for ice cream. God had gone beyond what I had asked. That happened every time, at least five. On a sparsely traveled road! How would coins end up there? Miracles.

A desire of my heart was to cheer along with these friends. But cheerleading required a practice and performance outfit. Obviously, I couldn’t afford it. I contented myself with cheer training and plans to sit on the sidelines knowing what and how my friends would perform, supporting them.

On the last day to sign up for tryouts, the coaches encouraged me, and I shyly thanked them but backed away. I had not told one living soul why I was not trying out. When the mail arrived that day, I pulled out an envelope with a postmark from my hometown over 300 miles away. It held an anonymous cashier’s check for the exact amount I needed with a note that read, “The Lord put it on my heart to send this. In this exact amount. God bless you.”  I had no one to thank except God. And yes, I ran back with tears in my eyes, showed the miracle check to my coaches, gave God the glory, signed up, and made the squad.

Some folks have difficulty combining miracles and money. But the Lord had no qualms. He knew money was a necessity. “Go to the sea and throw in a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, open its mouth, and you will find a coin.” Matthew 17:27 (NIV).

Was He just satisfying the temple tax or proving to Peter and the rest of us, that He can bless us through anything?

Necessities, ice cream, and cheers were of no consequence. What will last forever is that God reached out to me through my loneliness, isolation, need, and desires, over and over to show me, He sees, He cares, He intervenes.

He revealed His unconditional tender love. He demonstrated He is an involved father.

He saw me. Me! And He wanted me to know that miracles are not just in Bible stories.

I’ve looked for miracles ever since.  Because when I connect the dots, I see Him, and my heart thrills… He sees me.

 

Please share a miracle or two, or a cluster or two !

 

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6 Comments

    The Conversation

  1. Tyger says:

    Oh how I just adored reading this. Yes. Yes. Yes. I have many; but I will share an account from yesterday. My upper thigh has been swollen, warm, red, itchy (no rash) etc.. The sensation spread around the front and side of my leg and into my knee. Problem with this is that I am a “clotter”. I’ve had two embolisms and one DVT. So this is a hot sign that all is not well. With each passing day, my leg got bigger and bigger….very painful. As it grew, so did my anxiety. The overwhelming panic, dizziness, shortness of breathe was excruciating. Anyone that understands the damage that clotting does to the heart, lungs, and vascular system knows this is dreadful. I called my doctor yesterday morning and she made an appointment for me to get an ultrasound at 3:45. It would be a long days wait. But the idea that I got that appointment over the phone on the same day was so reassuring… (a ping from God that he could handle this. But yet the anxiety was still winning). That afternoon, I was soaking in Epsom salts to reduce the pain in my leg. As I sat there, I felt all the pressure in the world on my chest. The anxiety had overtaken. For those that understand pure anxiety, you know it is torturous. Believe it or not, at that point, my prayer to God was to take the anxiety. I wasn’t even praying about a potential DVT….I was praying for peace in the storm; an escape from panic. As I was drying off, the phone rang. It was the CVFP diagnostic center calling to make an appointment for me to come in and get and ultra sound on my leg. I told them that I had one at another location at 3:45. Out of curiosity I asked them why they were calling as my doctor’s office scheduled that first thing this morning. She said, “Well, I am just finding this request and I have a 3:00”. Given that I had been soaking in the tub for so long, I asked her what time it was. She said, “2:38”. I explained that I could be there in 25 minutes and told me to come on!!!! Did my prayer make 45 minutes difference to God. Yes. And that is not a coincidence. I knew he was answering my prayer to calm my anxiety. It immediately dissipated as I knew He loved me and understood COMPLETELY my fear. He didn’t reprimand me for not having enough faith. He knows I adore Him. He came to me in my weakness and met me stark naked in a tub, scared to death…..again. I cry thinking of His love for me and thinking about that immediate miracle. The thing is is that my anxiety overruled the first miracle of getting a diagnostic appointment (over the phone) through my doctor without a visit. So He came closer and closer, until He broke through. Great is His Faithfulness! By the way, I did not have a clot in that leg. TBC. Looking for more miracles today as we try to figure out what is going on with this leg. But today, there is NO anxiety.

    • Deborah Maxey says:

      There is no way most of us could ever understand how painful and scary that must! But we can relate to the miracle of God’s timing and giving you peace. For me, the higher my anxiety gets the more I can’t fail to notice how deep the unexpected peace is and appreciate it all the more. I’m praying for you and your health. I am so grateful you shared this miracle. I pray you have many many more and complete healing!

  2. Tammy Elliott says:

    I thoroughly enjoyed this read as it has happened to me repeatedly, in times of my greatest need or in times of my childlike wonder at having that special something in the window at a store. The most vivid was in 2015 when I went through a tumultuous break-up and basically lost all that I had because my significant other took whatever she wanted. I was in no shape to argue or put up any defense nor did I care at that point because to me; I had lost the love of my life. I had just been in a car accident and had secured a used vehicle with a high monthly payment that we were both supposed to pay. I now had no furniture. I didn’t have money for gas to get to work for the next two weeks and I was in the process of trying to collect money to go through a bankruptcy from the previous relationship. Little by little, gas money showed up under one of my favorite plants on my deck. I still don’t know from who. Friends and co-workers secured furniture for me to have until I could do better. I made my car payment through two insurance policies I had forgotten about. I then was able to obtain $1100 for my attorney from absolutely nothing so that I could take care of my obligations and do the responsible thing instead of letting everything linger in unending closure. All of this occurred in the span of two weeks when I didn’t have a dollar to my name. I praised God and cried to the Heavens for I hadn’t lost the love of my life. He was right by my side carrying me all along.

    • Deborah Maxey says:

      Oh my goodness this gives me chill bumps. God was truly loving on you when you must have felt so unloved. It is amazing that He used others to slip money under a plant or think of a piece of unused furniture you might need. But of course, the greatest thing was that when your heart was so wounded He had you in the palm of His hand and sent love through listening helpers to heal your heart, not just take care of necessities. And good on you for taking care of your debts! I have to think He was rewarding your values too! THank you so much for sharing this.

  3. Deborah says:

    Whoever I feel I am at my wits end I try to remember to thank God for being in my life and just ask for intuitive insight for the next right thing to do for right now. I try not to put expectations on the outcome and what will happen next or not happen and try to remember I am powerless over people, places, and things but God is not. I try not to get caught up in what I want or would like to happen but try to just sweep my side of the street and let go of the results and especially let go of what May or may not happen tomorrow. I find that even though I see nothing changing on the horizon that as long as I am in God’s palm I can stay in peace and that is what is most important to me and not my expectations or wants in life. That is a miracle for me as I have grown into this place of trust and understanding and this is not a natural place for me yet I continue to aside there each day when I remember to take my eyes off life and keep them on Jesus. I am not getting any big changes in my life or miracles but this for me is the biggest miracle. To have the freedom and ability to chose God over the circumstances in my life and to chose to believe and trust is a miracle in my life. I sometimes sway and get a bit erratic, but then after my momentary meltdown I remember I have the freedom to chose to believe life will work out in God’s way not mine and that is always better for me. I am learning to remember and recenter a bit more quickly and that too is a miracle. I will start opening my eyes to try to see more of the miracles in my life as I do believe those miracles are there. I just need God’s intuitive insight to see them as he gives them and not as I expect or want.

    • Deborah Maxey says:

      Wow, I think you nailed it. Just stretching so that you can “remember to take my eyes off life and keep them on Jesus.” That is a true miracle. And trust…God must love you so much for being willing to put yourself out there over and over in order to learn trust. The courage to do that is a miracle too. Thank you for sharing your heart.