Choosing faith: What does a miracle look like?

If you haven’t read Part 1 of Rachel’s story, you can read it here. 

My mindset was complete trust in God. But the second step was finding healing for my baby boy. I still had a child with a complex diagnosis, an uncertain outcome, and no answers.

Our family prayed, our local church prayed, our friends prayed. We all prayed for healing and for a miracle. I was really glad for all the praying. It was a comfort, especially because the days caring for our baby were long; he was still struggling to thrive and things sometimes looked worse day by day.

So I held fast to prayer and asked God to do a miracle. But it seemed that the hours turned to days, which turned to weeks and then months. No “miracle,” no change – nothing!

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What does a miracle look like?

But then I began thinking, what does a miracle look like? Is the only miracle one where I get my baby up one morning and voilà! he’s 100% healed? What do I do in this time? Do I just sit around waiting for this “miracle” to come, and wonder why nothing is happening?

So, I began to pray: “God, what do I do?” Well, of all things, I happened upon a joke!

A man was stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He prayed to God to be saved from drowning. Soon a man in a rowboat came by and shouted to the man on the roof, “Jump in, I can save you.” The stranded man shouted back, “No, it’s OK, I’m praying and God is going to save me.” So the rowboat went on. Then a motorboat came by. The man in the motorboat shouted, “Jump in, I can save you.” To this the stranded man again said, “No thanks, I’m praying and God is going to save me. I have faith.” So the motorboat too went on. Then a helicopter came by and the pilot shouted down, “Grab this rope and I will lift you to safety.” You can probably guess what the stranded man replied. So the helicopter reluctantly flew away. Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. When he got to heaven he confronted God. “I had faith in You, but You didn’t save me, You let me drown! I don’t understand why!” To which God replied, “I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?”

I realized that I can’t have my own ideas of what God should do. If I just waited around thinking a magic lightning bolt would strike and solve my problem, then I was in for a big disappointment. God didn’t want the man to just sit there, but to put his faith into action!

In the Bible we can also read a story, showing how faith put into action has results: “Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ The sick man answered Him, ‘Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’ And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.” John 5:5-9.

It’s very easy to blame and make excuses when we don’t see God answering in the way we expect. Or maybe to just defeatedly accept our situation.

Faith needs to be active

It probably hurt every muscle in that man’s body to drag himself over to the water. He probably had thoughts like, “Other people have it easier. (Right!) Maybe they’re blind, but they can still stand and walk. The deaf don’t have it as bad as me, etc.”

But that’s a trap. That man lay by the pool for thirty-eight years!

God wants us to get up and act. Usually, it’s something right in front of us, but we have too many excuses and want God to “miraculously” fix it.

God wants more. He wants us to get to know him better. (James 4:8) Active faith is the road that leads us closer to Him. It became so clear for me. I had to take all the prayers and make my faith active. I had to get up and act!

I know, because that’s how it has been for us. In being active with God behind me, we have seen many miracles. Miracles we may not have seen if I was not willing to be uncomfortable.

If you haven’t read Part 1 of Rachel’s story, you can read it here.

Click here to read the last part of Rachel’s testimony and what kind of miracles they experienced!