I am on Facebook a lot. I see post from a lot of people who claim they are Christians. I have no doubt that they are and that they have a love and trust for Christ that is real. I do however believe that as Christians we should be responsible when we post things that the public can read. I have seen post that promise that if you like and share you will receive a miracle by morning or ones that imply that if you keep scrolling you must not care. I have seen it over and over where people are claiming that if we just have faith that God will bless our lives with more than we can imagine. While in a sense it is true that God will bless our lives consider that you are not a Christian reading these promises. To me it would make me think I have tried having faith and it didn’t happen for me. I have quit scrolling and shared everything I could and the miracle never came. I have a very broad imagination. I imagine a world where none of my friends or family never have to suffer or die. I imagine that I will wake tomorrow and all of my financial worries will be over. I imagine that God will end world hunger. I imagine a lot of things. Does it mean that that my faith is not strong enough ? Certainly not. Does it mean that God does not love me as much as he does anyone else ? I don’t believe that for a minute. God loves us all. As a matter of fact he loves us so much he sent his only son “Jesus” to die to wash away our sins.
We are all going to face our own trials in life. We will loose people that we love. We will see hardships that no one else will understand. If your not born into a “financially” rich family odds are you will face trying times because of money. Health is something else. At some point in our lives we will all face times when our health becomes an issue.
God does perform miracles. Yes that’s right. I said it. GOD PERFORMS MIRACLES. The thing about it is, I too had the image of believing in Christ and my little world would become perfect. It didn’t. My Mother and my Brother still passed away. My money problems didn’t get any better, as a matter of fact I ended up loosing a nice vehicle, a very nice house and most of my worldly possessions. “How do you still believe in miracles” you ask ? It’s simply because of where I came from to be where I was.
I was raised in a loving family in a small town in Kentucky. I was taught the difference between right and wrong. I was taught respect for other people. I was saved and baptized in a small church where I lived. Somewhere along the years of becoming a man on my own, things changed. I moved out of that small town. I became independent of my loving family. I found booze and drugs which changed the very core of who I was. Without even realizing it I had become the person I never wanted to be. I lost touch with my family for many years until I had got to the point I was afraid to go home. I lived as if my life was the only one that mattered for many years.
Do I believe in miracles ? You better bet. What changed for me is I had taken a job driving trucks over the road. After all, I didn’t have to answer to anyone. After a number of years on the road I awoke one morning to my Mothers voice saying she needed me, it is time to come home. I have no doubt now that my Mothers voice is the only thing that God knew I would listen to. My family had moved and I found them in Tennessee. I made it home about six months before my Brother passed away from a bout with cancer. My Mom prior to his passing had asked if I would be willing to rent a place with her and my Father. Being on the road as a driver I figured that would be a waste of my hard earned money so I bought us a house. Six months after my Brother passed I lost my Mother. During a knee operation she was given a blood thinner that she had an allergic reaction to. The medical staff didn’t realize it in time and she lost a battle to a stroke. Man, I was angry at the staff at the hospital. I was angry at the world. I was angry at God. I had so much anger inside that I allowed myself to loose my home, I lost a nice vehicle, I lost most of my worldly possessions. I started having health problems. Two heart attacks within six months of one another a whole in my stomach the size of a quarter among other things. I stayed angry that way for the longest time.
It was only the grace of God “another one of his miracles” that I was able to overcome the anger I had in my heart. Once I was able to start to forgive “myself as well as others” I started to realize that God had been there helping me all along. Yes, my Mom and Brother was still gone, yes, I had still lost almost everything I had ever worked for. What I realized is that if it hadn’t been for God’s miracle “bringing me home” I would not have been there to hold my Mothers hand as she went home to Heaven. I would have missed out on my Brothers love during his last days. I would not have been here and would not be here to experience and share my fathers love today. Did I loose everything ? Materially, Yes. What I gained is the understanding that sometimes what we think would be the very best for us is often not what God sees in his love for us.
Please remember that when you tell someone about the blessings of God The rose colored glasses we often wear are not the ones that everyone looks through. Let them know what the blessings are you have received and about the miracles in your own life. Let them know God’s love does not make you or your world perfect but he gives us the strength and courage to face another day. I am by far not perfect but God with his love gives me a reason to try harder to please him today.
