Quiet Miracles Occur Daily

A teenager from St. Charles, Missouri—a half-hour northwest of St. Louis—recovered after spending 15 minutes under water following his plunge into an ice-covered lake.

It’s a story so miraculous that in addition to local media, it received coverage recently in USA Today and a report on the Today show.

There are many similar accounts. They often provoke skepticism, particularly after the recent recanting of a story by a boy who had claimed to see heaven after a bad car crash. The admission caused his publisher to pull the book co-authored with his father from circulation.

Spiritual Realities

However, in the ordinary, day-to-day process of life countless miracles do take place. Few become the subject of a news account, yet because they remain so quiet millions fail to see the spiritual realities that occur right before our eyes.

A recent example involved a friend who told of a divine urging to buy a hoodie for a stranger behind him in line at Wal-Mart. He struggled with the impulse, arguing silently that he didn’t want to do that.

Just as he prepared to pay for his purchases, the clerk stopped and did something he had never experienced. She asked, “Is that everything?” The words hit him like a swat in the face.

“Uh, sir,” he said, turning to the man behind him, “do you mind if I buy that hoodie for you?”

Smiling, he replied, “If God is telling you to do something, I’m not going to stand in the way.”

Divine Calls

A couple weeks earlier, while helping prepare dishes for a mid-week dinner for the homeless, I heard parts of the pastor’s testimony.

He talked about feeling called to the ministry, yet continually resisting. Besides, he argued with the unseen voice urging him to do so, he had been trying to sell his house for two years and it hadn’t moved. As soon as he gave in and consented to enroll in seminary, presto! The house sold.

I know what that feels like. When my wife wanted to attend seminary in 1993, I agreed to move but didn’t sense any particular urging to head there. One day after we had visited the campus, I sensed God telling me He was sending me there and had things for me to do there as well.

Miraculous Survival

Two weeks ago I wrote about Larry, a 27-year-old man from our church who died in mid-January in an accident on I-64 in eastern Kentucky. After I completed that blog, our pastor shared another miraculous element from that tragic day.

He told how on impact, Larry’s infant son had flown out of the vehicle’s window and landed on the side of the interstate. Not only did rescue workers find the baby seated in his car seat—without a scratch—he wasn’t even crying.

“You can call that a coincidence if you like,” our pastor said, “but I think angels were watching over him.”

So do I. One reason is an accident Janet and I had in 1995, about 12 miles east of where Larry’s mishap occurred. Blinded by late afternoon sun, my wife lost control of our car and went over a guardrail, smacking a speed limit sign that caused us to flip.

Just as we started to turn over, I prayed the shortest, most effective prayer of my life, “God, protect us.”

Janet broke her wrist and needed a few stitches in her head, but I walked away with nothing more than a few scratches. When our daughters picked us up the next day and saw our flattened car at the junkyard, they couldn’t believe we were alive.

Just another story from the daily miracle of life in God’s universe.