“While you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” -Acts 4:30
Pray for miracles.
Ever since I was little, the Bible stories with miracles fascinated me. I still remember my Beginners Bible with colorful illustrations that allowed me to picture these stories in my head. I remember Mom and Dad reading the stories to me each night before bed, and me always wondering, “How does He do those things?”
God saving Noah and his family during the great flood, Jesus feeding the five thousand, Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, and Jesus’s resurrection are just a few of the “Wow” miracles that I still cannot get over.
I feel that today the world is not filled with hope and anticipation of miracles, but instead in a depressed, deprived state without Jesus. If people not only recognized, but also anticipated miracles, the world would be a different place.
One thing I’ve learned over the last couple of years is that nothing is too difficult for God. I’ve also learned that no prayer is too great or too impossible for Him. Over the years, I have learned to pray very bold prayers. I could write for days about each of the miracles I have seen Him perform, but here are a few in brief detail:
- My Grandpa became a Christian during the last six months of his life. He was devout in his Catholic belief, however he had never experienced a true relationship with God until then. I will always remember his words, “I never knew about this until now.” God still left time for him. This was something our entire family had prayed for him for years, and his conversion and discussion with others about Christ was incredible during those last few months. I remember tearing up when he mentioned his time left on earth, and I remember his words, “Christine, you’ll see me again. That’s the faith you’ve lived your whole life. Remember that.” Those words will stay in my heart forever. A miracle.
- Jesus healed my body from intense pain back in the fall of 2013. After months of a pause in regular life and an increase in doctor’s appointments and hospitalizations, I was instantly released from pain one morning. When I was to the point of primarily reading, occasionally journaling, and almost always feeling miserable, I told God I couldn’t do this anymore. I told him I was ready to surrender those parts in my heart that I had trouble with in the past. I knew there was more going on than just a physical struggle. During the early hours of the morning, when I thought that pain could no longer be tolerated, I saw his Hand. I saw an indescribable glimpse of Heaven, and felt His presence. When I touched his hand, He instantly released me from pain. I woke up with a rapid heartbeat, but the most peace I have ever felt. The sharp pains were gone. The fever broke. I could move without fainting. He healed me. A miracle.
- The Lord restored a family relationship that I thought could never be repaired. As close as we were as children, it was a heartbreak in late high school/early college when things crumbled. Anger, bitterness, and harsh words were exchanged on both ends. My intentions of being protective resulted in judgment and unkindness. There did not seem to be forgiveness. When I realized what was going on, it was too late. I prayed. I tried to mend things on my own. It did not happen. This spanned over a period of years. It was a source of distress and anxiety for me. Would God repair this? Because it felt so awful, could He repair it? I prayed for a miracle every day. I prayed for restoration and reconciliation, even on days that it seemed impossible. One day, years later, I saw that miracle. Over days, months, and years, God completely restored what was lost – what was broken. Forgiveness happened. I learned what true forgiveness was and I saw a complete transformation in myself and his. Another miracle.
- God saved my life. I was in Costa Rica on a mission trip, and white water rafting was one of our many adventures toward the end of the trip. In a level four rapid, having the time of my life, I was thrown off the raft and caught in a current in the water. I was stuck underneath the raft. I remember the terror and gasps for air, only to find water, and what seemed like no escape. I remember the feeling I have only had once in a lifetime. “I am going to die. This is it.” I remember panicking, and doing everything I thought I needed to save myself from this water. When the water started coming into my lungs, I began to desperately pray. In a matter of moments, I saw one of my favorite verses since I was a child, flash in front of the darkness. “Be still, and know that I am God.” The letters were bright white. They flashed like lightning. My head pounded and I stopped moving. I do not remember anything after that, except coughing for air. I had been thrown out of the current and up from the water. God had saved me. I remember people asking me what had happened, but all I could see was that verse and the water behind it. Another miracle.
These are some of the big miracles I have witnessed, and are miracles that there is no reasonable explanation for. There are other ones I could document, and will someday. When people ask and hear the stories, they do not make sense. The only thing that does make sense is God and His faithfulness. In each of these situations, I asked God for something very big. Something that seemed impossible and too difficult. Besides the miracle that happened in a matter of minutes in saving my life, the others took time. The others were not easy to pray for. They took months, and some, years. In his timing, which was never my own, God came through. He waited until the perfect time to perform a miracle—very visible, tangible miracles that cannot be explained.