Miracles do Happen

Several years ago, during the early 90’s, there was a recession. At that time, my husband had just sold his design/build firm because he had surrendered to God’s call to the ministry. He was not on staff for any church, so he was doing freelance work for various churches—in any case we did not have a steady income, but God was certainly providing. Our daughter had just completed her 18 months of chemo-therapy, the lease on our car was up, and we had sold our home with no gain. We moved into a nice home, and one of my brothers had a car that he was not using—so we were driving what my kids dubbed “the clown car.” They called it the clown car because it was compact sized, and we were a family of six...so they imagined people watching this little vehicle pull up and then see all six of us dismounting, comical, but probably embarrassing for the kids.

My husband and I started praying for a van. We were looking and looking and praying and praying and we finally found one—we thought. We went to a dealership that would work with us, and ended up getting a very nice car—not the van we had been praying for. Funny thing about that car—though it was very nice, we never felt comfortable driving it—we didn’t have a peace because we knew it wasn’t God’s will for us to have that car—we let the dealer talk us into getting something other than what we really wanted or needed.

We had the car for a couple of days when we got a call from a pastor friend for whom my husband had completed some work. Their church was raising the money to pay off the balance that was owed to my husband, but they had not paid the balance in full; so he was wondering if we would consider a trade. You see the pastor’s van had been stolen, so they purchased a new one—and now the stolen vehicle was recovered; he was wondering if we would be willing to accept the van in exchange for the work he had done. We would have to make a few monthly payments, but then the van would be ours free and clear. Now, we really felt bad that we had rushed into getting the car, because here was a van, but since we bought the car we couldn’t afford both monthly payments. We received counsel from our pastor to accept the van by faith, and we prayed that somehow God would provide the money for us. Well, here is the miraculous part (as if the van wasn’t miracle enough); we got a phone call from the car dealership because “for some reason they had us fill out all the wrong paper work, so we actually had no contract with them.” After the man told me that, I asked him if that meant I could just give them the car back, and as much as he wanted to say no, he confirmed that “yes, we could just give them the car back because we were not bound by any contract!” Can you believe it? Miracles do happen! God answered all of our prayers; He gave us a second chance after we rushed out to get the car and He provided the van we had been praying for. Encouraging to hear isn’t it?

“Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul.” One area that I believe is very important, yet often pushed aside is that of sharing with others the things that God has done for us individually. I just told you a true story about something that happened to me, and I am encouraged just remembering all that happened. When God answers your prayers, tell others! It will encourage them to pray. I believe that if every wife would learn to share with her husband how the Lord spoke to her soul in each message that is preached there would be a closer relationship between them. If during family devotions your husband says something that speaks to your heart, you should let him know, he would be encouraged. If you open up with a friend and share something God gave you during your own personal devotion, your friendship would grow closer. You could also encourage your friend to read her Bible more if she sees how it helped you. What better way to praise the Lord than by showing others what wonderful things He has done for you. Teach your children to pray and believe God by declaring what He has done for you. When someone comes to you with a problem or a need, encourage them by declaring what God has done for you in a similar circumstance; how He has helped you. If you tell others, they can encourage yet others with your story. “Praise Him for his mighty acts; praise Him according to his excellent greatness.” “Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.”

Have a wonderful day today!

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