Experiencing The Miraculous

My idea of fun is not sitting around the campfire sharing scary stories. However, I love sitting around the campfire and sharing stories of God’s miracles. I listen intently and cannot get enough when others share their stories. Experiencing the miraculous ignites a new spark within me each time.

Do you have a story?

When I traveled to the middle east, it amazed me how much story telling was still so much part of their culture. A dear friend I met there, when he calls to catch up, always asks, “Do you have a new story for me?” I know he is not asking about my kids. He wants to know stories that witness to God’s goodness. Another friend in Houston, who is originally from Liberia, always greets me and asks if I have a testimony to share. Before meeting her, I only thought of my testimony being when I met Jesus, but to her we have many testimonies. Every time we encounter God, we have another testimony to share. These two people reshaped the way I look at my daily life. I began looking for the next story, or testimony, to share of how amazing He is.

Experiencing The Miraculous

My husband, Sam, was returning home from delivering humanitarian aid to war torn Yugoslavia. He was driving in a large convoy, a vehicle filled with filming equipment, the camera crew, and reporters from the BBC news service who had been with his team in Croatia.

Many cars and trucks surrounded him on the German autobahn, renowned for its incredible speed. Sam noticed across the median, a large lorry (semi-truck) carrying enormous steel rolls had begun sliding sideways down the road. Its load was flying off the back and over to his side of the highway. The giant steel rolls were pounding down the road toward his convoy.

The first vehicle was struck, and the glass of the cab exploded. Sam was stuck between large trucks on both sides, another behind him, and a large roll of steel heading his way. With nowhere to go, he knew this was going to be the end and all he could do was pray.

The next thing Sam realized was the vehicle was sitting safely on the side of the road. As soon as he could comprehend that he and the others were safe, he got out and started running back toward the wrecked vehicles to help the injured. Even the BBC crew thought they were going to die that night and did not understand how they got to the side of the road. They could not argue with what had happened. They all agreed they had experienced the miraculous.

Miracles

The 15th letter in the Hebrew alphabet is the samekh ס, which has the value of 60. I got excited when I read that if you add it to the previous letter, the nun ן it creates the word miracle סן. (If you want to read more about the nun ן click here).

By putting the meanings of these two letters together, we can understand what a miracle is. In the last post I shared about the nun ן and that it means servant, soul, banner of victory, fall, and faithfulness.

Looking forward, we discover the samekh ס, means God is my support, shield, and protection. It looks much like an O, which is a picture of eternity. Scholars also say that with this shape, it represents humanity within the circle and God is outside surrounding us in all directions. It also leads us to three of His characteristics; He is omnipresent (He is everywhere), omnipotent (He is all powerful), and omniscient (He is all knowing).

Miracle

According to Merriam-Webster, a miracle is an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment. To go back to the Hebrew, we can agree with this definition, but understand the intensity behind it. There are no miracles without God.

Putting these two letters together, we see the depth of the meaning of miracle. When we faithfully come before God with a servant’s heart, maybe even at our lowest point, we can experience His all powerful, all knowing presence. His presence is our protection, our strength, and our shield. And through our acceptance of Jesus, we get to receive the ultimate miracle of all and that is eternity with Him.

When we experience divine protection or strength, it humbles us. To see God’s hand at work in our lives is astonishing. Before I traveled to the middle east to say I was nervous was an understatement. I was sharing my fears with a friend and, in turn, she shared a story a friend had shared with her.

Angelic Soldiers

This woman had gone on a mission trip and one evening took a walk alone along the beach to clear her mind of things she had witnessed that day. As she walked, a man was walking in her direction but continued walking past. The next morning, she saw this man that had passed her on the beach, on the news. Police had arrested him for raping a woman. She could not believe he had just walked past her. The woman was grateful, but could not shake wondering why he had not harmed her. She went to the police station and asked to see him. When face to face with this man, she asked, “If you were planning to rape someone, why did you not rape me?” He looked at her shocked and replied, “Why would I have tried, you had those two soldiers walking by your side?”

Wow. She experienced the miraculous without even knowing it. Can you imagine the feelings that probably ran through her at that moment? In an instant, she knew the God of the universe, or angelic beings, had been dispatched, and stood by her side and protected her. I have heard many stories like this and they have given me the courage to move into situations that I otherwise would not have proceeded.

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Behind The Scenes

I believe there are many more miracles that happen in our presence that we are completely unaware of. God works behind the scenes as our shield and our protector.

This reminds me of a story of prophet Elisha. He was with a servant and when they got up in the morning; the servant noticed an opposing army with many horses and chariots. We find Elisha’s response in 2 Kings 6:16-17 NLT.

“‘Don’t be afraid!’ Elisha told him. ‘For there are more on our side than on theirs!’ Then Elisha prayed, ‘O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!’ The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.”

The Bible does not say exactly who these extra horses and chariots belonged to, but I have to believe they belonged to God and were just like the soldiers standing next to the woman and whoever moved Sam’s van out of the way. There is so much going on around us that we do not even know or could understand.

Look Deeper

We struggle to think beyond what our five senses tell us, but I encourage you this week to look deeper. Where might God be working on your behalf and you never noticed? Where has He provided divine protection for you? Have you ever experienced the miraculous? I would love for you to share your stories with me. Never forget the power of our stories and testimonies. When we share them, they have the power to penetrate the hearts of others.

Write out your stories…

I love all the Journals from DaySpring. They have guided and blank journals. I find it encouraging in the tough times to go back through my journals and see where God has worked through my life. It helps me push through to see what He will do next.

Tools to Record Your Prayers. Shop DaySpring Journals and Notebooks

Thank you for sharing…