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Missing The Miracle
Jon Burgess“Then Job replied to the LORD: “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’ I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” Job 42:1-6
After so much talking Job realized he should have been doing a lot more listening. He was in an epic theological argument with his "friends" for days on end. In the mean time He was missing the miracles of God all around him. Its easy to miss what God is doing when it feels like He is a million miles away. It's easy to miss the miracles when we are so busy and caught up in the other relationships in our lives. After all this talking what did God tell Job? "Listen and I will speak." Then He begins to lift his eyes from the ash heap and show Him the divine design behind all the creation around him. God has Job look beyond the looming shadows of his critics and see the bright light of the sun He created that effortlessly illuminates all he sees. What does Job say after all this? Well, he's mostly breathless and speechless and barely gets out, "I take back everything I said." He was now seeing God with his own eyes because He was seeing at work in the big and small ways all around him.
I woke with a vivid dream a few days ago that ties in with Job's story here. In the dream I was sitting and talking to a guy about how real God was. He seemed less then convinced. I looked for a way to prove to him that God was real. I saw a dead branch next to me and picked it up. I thought if God could make this dead branch live then surely this man would come to believe. I looked over and saw some fellow believers and asked them to pray with me. Before I knew it the dead branch began to grow green with life even to the point of a flower blooming. We all stood in awe at the power of God exhibited through His creation. I turned around expecting to see the same the same look of surprise on this doubting man's face. Instead what I was saw was his face was in his phone checking updates. In exasperation I asked him, "Did you see that? Did you see God bring this dead branch to life?" He looked at me with dull indifference and had no idea what I was talking about. He was so busy with his phone he had missed the miracle right in front of him. I woke up realizing that man who missed the miracle could very often be me. I told my boys that night the dream and asked them to forgive me for the times when I have missed the miracle in them because I was so caught up in what I was doing or saying.
Its so easy to get caught up in so many things other then You. It might be pain, loss, busyness, entertainment or even spiritual activities that keep me from seeing what You are doing all around me. I don't want to miss the miracles big or small. Let me do a lot more listening and a lot loss talking. Let me put down my phone so I can pick up on what You are doing and saying. I want to see the dead branches come to life through prayer which means I'd better be praying more and talking less.
