Corona Devo 3289
I carried a large pot of boiling pasta over to the sink to be drained, and my smart phone was cupped between my ear and my shoulder, as I chatted with my sister.
But somehow (SOMEHOW!) my phone dropped into the boiling pot of pasta and water!!
My smart phone. My high-tech, 5G, electronic, expensive device was submerged into salted, boiling water.
I screamed and then fished my phone out of the water with a slotted spoon.
I updated her on this potentially/probably/definitely dire circumstance and hung up.
How could my phone not be ruined?
The temperature was hot (above 212 Fahrenheit), and the phone ports registered as "detecting water", which both made sense because it had been submerged into a boiling pot of pasta and water!!
What else could I expect except disaster?
...How about a miracle?
That's what I would call the (outcome) of my phone having no proof/effects/issues whatsoever, even though I boiled it for a period of time.
What else can we call that, except a miracle?
It wasn't exactly Lazarus coming out of the tomb after being dead for four days, but (in my little world)--it was close! And--it's proof (to me) that God still does miracles. Sometimes big and sometimes small...but He ain't out of the miracle business. He did them then (in the Bible), and He still does them now.
A boiled-and-then-perfectly-functional-smart-phone is proof of that. And so is Lazarus.
Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha… (3) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
(4) When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”...
(17) On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
(38) Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. (39) “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
(40) Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
(41) So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. (42) I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
(43) When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” (44) The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. John 11:1, 3-4, 11, 17, 38-44
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We serve a God who is able, and He can do anything that He wills and that He wants...and that includes miracles.
The supreme deity and power of the Lord was on full display in the New Testament as Jesus encountered those in dire situations (far beyond a submerged cell phone)...and Jesus helped them. He healed them. He changed hearts.
These are miraculous occurrences.
When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. (2) A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
(3) Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. ~Mathew 8:1-3
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Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. (24) Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. (25) The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
(26) He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. ~Matthew 8:23-26
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There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.
(33) After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. (34) He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”).
(35) At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. ~Mark 7:32-35
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Just in case we were unfamiliar, or had forgotten some of the miracles of our Mighty God...Scripture reminds us of Who God is, and what He is capable of...ANYTHING!!
Anything, Brothers and Sisters in Christ--that's what God can do.
Nothing:(us-of-little-faith). That's what God cannot do.
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And so--has the unthinkable happened to us or to our heart today?
Do the circumstances corner (and cripple) us, and...what else could we expect except disaster?
...How about a miracle?
Stranger things have happened (like a cell phone being dunked in boiling water and living to tell the tale).
Sometimes big and sometimes small...but God ain't out of the miracle business. He did them then (in the Bible), and He still does them now.
Has a relationship in our life/a dream in our heart,/or our hope died?
God is (still) in the business of miracles.
"For with God nothing will be impossible.” ~Luke 1:37
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Have we been out-of-it for a while? Socially, emotionally, physically, maybe even spiritually--have we been separated? Troubled? Depressed? Lonely? Isolated?
Let's ask God for the miracle of community today: of resurrected purpose and belonging.
Like a leper re-entering society with clean skin, God is still in the miracle business--if we are willing.
A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
(3) Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. ~Mathew 8:2-3
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Have the waves-of-life become too much for us to bear?
Then we can ask for God's help in rebuking the worldly winds and waves, and somehow, someway (in ways that we do not understand)...we can trust that He will.
Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. ~Matthew 8:26
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Then let God's track record with His people pose a new question to us: ...How about a miracle?
God still does miracles. Sometimes big and sometimes small...but He ain't out of the miracle business, and He ain't out of our business either. Thank goodness.
Blessings,
sarah
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