Don’t miss the miracle because it doesn’t look like you thought it would. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on a donkey. Not a horse, like a king…a donkey. The Jews expected Jesus to come as a king who would rule, reign, and defeat Roman rule over their lives. But he was a different kind of king. They missed the miracle of Easter and salvation because they refused to see beyond their expectations of what the Messiah should be.
Missing the Miracle
When my son was ill, I focused so much on God healing him completely that I missed the miracle. God did heal him. The doctors said he wouldn’t live through the night. So, I prayed. In the morning, Stephen was making a total recovery and astounding the doctors. Then God gave me 3 beautiful months when he wasn’t sick, he laughed, he didn’t cry 24/7. We got to know and enjoy our son for the first time. But he died a few months later. I got angry at God. He didn’t cure him. But maybe I missed the miracle of God curing him and giving us those 3 beautiful months.
It makes me wonder if I’m doing the same thing now in my prayers for my stepmom. I want God to grant my prayers for healing. I want God to cure her cancer. But have I missed the miracle of her strength rebounding, allowing her time to be with and enjoy her family without the cough and pain she had in the beginning?
Perhaps I am also missing the miracle unfolding before my eyes with my daughter. For years, I’ve prayed for God to break her addiction. To me, that looks like working an AA program, getting counseling, and finding God again. But after nearly dying, she stopped drinking cold turkey. She is beating it, her way. She is happier, laughing, joking, and living a good life. This truly is a miracle.
The Healing Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1–15)
There was a healing pool that many sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed people went to. At a certain time, an angel of God stirred up the water. Then whoever stepped into the water first received healing. There was a man there who had been disabled for 38 years. Although he had no way to get into the pool on his own, he continued to come to the pool. He had faith to believe healing could happen and kept going, but didn’t believe it could ever happen to him.
Jesus asked the man, “Do you want to be made well?”(John 5:6). But instead of answering Jesus, the man explained he had no way to get into the pool. The man focused so much on reaching the pool at the right time and following the usual routine that he couldn’t see the miracle happening any other way. But Jesus told him to take up his mat and walk. The miracle happened when the man acted. The lesson to us is this: When we listen to God, believe, and act, not on what we’ve done in the past, not on what we think should happen, but trust and obey … then we will see the miracle.
Don’t Miss the Miracle
So friend, are there things you’ve been praying for and wondering if God will act? Is it possible that God is answering your prayers, just not in the way you expected? Are you holding onto expectations based on what you think should happen or what has happened in the past? Perhaps, like me, you need to lay them down, listen, trust, and obey. Let’s not miss the miracle. Join me today in declaring: “You are the God who performs miracles” (Psalm 77:14, NIV). I trust you, Lord, and I know your ways are better and higher than mine.
Read the Story of My Son’s Miracle
What If Healing Is Not Part of His Plan?
