Allowing God to Work Miracles

November 30 2011


The redwood trees in my front yard pull a cloak of fog and mist tight against their boughs. The wind is beginning to pick up and will soon blow the shroud of fog and mist away. Oak leaves float by the window like snow, dancing on the breeze, spiraling downward, carpeting the ground is drifts of vibrant color.

Of late, I have been almost consumed with problems, more of my own making than anything. Problems that exist, certainly, but that grow like a well-tended fire, my mind playing with what ifs instead of letting go and relying on God to handle the situation.

I know that it is silly, futile, to hold on to problems. To worry is a waste of time and energy and a separation from God. Worry is the fear of unknown and fear is a lie. God’s arm is too long and too strong for any problem to be beyond His ability to reach and repair.

And yet, I hold on.

This last Sunday a member of our church reminded us during testimony in service of how she held on to so many things because she, like all of us, felt the need to be in control. I laughed inside at that, not at her or her situation, but at myself, because we all do that. I hold on to problems and worries trying to fix what only God has the power to fix.

As she learned, by letting go, and letting God the blessings and hopes she had tried to manipulate and control seemed to appear almost overnight. God had been in the background all along and was waiting only for her to surrender so that He could work through her to create exactly the miracles and blessings that she was worried about.

That’s how God works most of the time. He comes in quiet, stealth, God doesn’t push, He nudges and He waits for our surrender so that He can work His miracles and blessings through us. Marianne Williamson put it this way in “Everyday Grace”

“He cannot do for us, what He cannot do through us.”

I think of this quote often because it holds such amazing truth, and yet, even though these words inspire me, I forget them, or at the very least, fail to apply the truth of them to my own life.

It is in our willingness to believe in His unlimited power, that miracles happen and miracles happen every day. The miracle may be just a small nudge from God, a thought that sweeps through us bringing light to the situation; it may be the blessing of a job, or a bill that was reduced, almost magically, because the electric company made a mistake. It can be anything, but rest assured, miracles happen, every single day.

We hold onto our problems and our worries, hoarding them like we would a coveted prize; we feed the fire of worry by dwelling on the problem instead of resting in God; we try to manipulate the “fix” and change the world to our needs and wants instead of letting go of the branch and dancing with the wind, allowing God to show us His design for us. Like the oak leaf that God designed to change color and to light the world with its dance, we must allow His design for our lives to fill the world with the rich and vibrant color of the miracles He works through us.

“He cannot do for us, what He cannot do through us.”

Words to remember.