Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
October 18, 2009 - W0942

So who needs a miracle? I bet all of you want one or two. So how do we get miracles? Well, not all miracles drop out of the sky. You have to be prepared for one. Sometimes miracles are explainable. Sometimes why they do not happen are explainable even more so.

A hopeful athlete that wants to turn professional has little chance of doing so if he sits in front of the TV all day eating junk food. A student desiring financial aid will probably not receive any if the does not apply. Sometimes God wants us to be a part of the miracle process.

Take Mano for example. He prayed and prayed to win the lottery. Three days went by and each day he still did not win. Finally, he frustratingly asked God why. God replied that Mano should meet Him halfway by actually buying a ticket!

You also have to be worthy of a miracle. Football great Walter Payton was told that he was lucky that God gave him so many athletic gifts. Payton replied that sure he was grateful but added that everyday he did 250 push-ups and 1000 sit-ups.

A lot of seeming miracles happen when we simply do things right. An old man with his back bent over slowly shuffled into the doctor’s office using a cane. 15 minutes later he walked energetically out of the office with his back straight. Another patient was shocked and asked how this miracle happened. The man replied, “Longer cane!”

Miracles require something from us. David was prepared for his and had been preparing for years in the desert. He had been practicing with his sling for a long time and had defended his sheep from lions and bears, too. Jesse had several good looking and strong sons but only David was chosen by God to be king. Out of the mundane life of a simple shepherd, God would make miracles and a king. But first David had to prepare himself and he prepared himself well. As the Bible says, "Reaching into his shepherd's bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell faces down on the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword." (1 Sam. 17:49-50)

David’s miracle was not simply luck. David was prepared. A one time basketball great was asked if some of his shots were just luck. The basketball star replied that the more he practiced, the luckier he got!  David knew the same principle. He prepared so well that he just seemed lucky.

"David chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine." (1 Sam. 17:40) David only used one stone on Goliath. So what were the other four for? Well, David was so smart that he knew that Goliath had four sons and so was prepared for them as well. As the Bible says, “These four were born to the giant of Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants." (2 Sam. 21:22) As you can tell …

• David was ready to do WHATEVER IT TOOK to overcome!

Remember, salvation is free but everything else costs. If you want a good marriage, you have to do whatever it takes to have a good marriage. If you want a good life, you have to do whatever it takes to make that good life. If you want to fix your finances, you have to do whatever it takes to fix them. Miracles can happen to you if you prepare! Too often we want the benefits without paying the price. When we prepare and do whatever it takes for the miracle to happen, then God shows His hand. Too often we are looking for the easy way out instead of doing the work God has set before us.

David’s father had sent him on a mundane errand before his miracle happened. So take note …

1. The miraculous is often PRECEDED by the mundane.

David had been doing routine monotonous tasks and God used those as ingredients in creating a miracle. It is written, "Jesse said to David, 'Take this basket of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and carry them quickly to your brothers. And give these ten cuts of cheese to their captain. See how your brothers are getting along.'" (1 Sam. 17:17-18). In other words, David was being used like a pizza boy! But God used all the skills and knowledge that David had acquired in his young mundane life to prepare him for his miracle. David had learned courage, patience and skill in defending his sheep from the lions and bears.

Some of you as well, may feel that your work and life is so mundane. But you too should be faithful to what God has chosen for you. Your current life may be teaching you to be true to your word, faithful and dependable. What you learn in the mundane is what God wants as ingredients of a miracle. So do not give up. The enemy is watching and knows how you feel and is looking for a weakness to exploit.

In ancient times, large scale battles were sometimes avoided by deciding the issue using a one-on-one fight between the two champions, one from each side. In this case, Goliath, a fierce giant on the Philistine side taunted the Israelites to send a champion of their own to face him. The Israelites were afraid because they saw a fearsome unbeatable warrior in Goliath, David was not afraid because he saw God’s hand in all this. So …

2. See things the way GOD sees them.
   
   

David saw Goliath as something insignificant to the power of God. As the Bible says, "David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, 'Who is this Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?'" (1 Sam. 17:26)

But the Israeli soldiers saw only the worst aspects of their situation and so were afraid. It is written, "When the men of Israel saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns." (1 Sam. 13:6) Seeing things the wrong way creates fear and hopelessness and I like to say that fear is …

FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL

So see things through God’s eyes and you will have hope and courage. But how do we start to have courage? We have to realize that we really do not see with our eyes. We see with our brains. That is why two people can look at the same thing but see it differently. So see things through Faith. See the world around you in a higher state. If you see things in a negative and lower state you will be tired and discouraged. For example, after a long day at work you may feel tired but as soon as you get a phone call to play golf, you have all the energy in the world!

I was at an airport and the long term parking was very far from the terminal. So I parked and left the parking ticket in the car but after I had walked a long while I came to a sign that said to take your parking ticket with you for validation! I was so angry! I mean why not have the sign where the cars are parked?! (must be a portage that designed the airport!) Now I had to walk all the way back to the car and then to the terminal again! With each step back I became angrier and angrier. But then God put a thought into my head. Actually walking is what my doctor said I should do for my heart. I then began to feel better because I realized that instead of being inconvenienced, I was being given the opportunity to do my daily work out! So in any situation, you can be see things in a higher state or lower, positive or negative. If you do not have the word of God in your heart you will tend to see things in a lower state.

There was a lady that hated her husband and so met with a divorce lawyer. She told the lawyer that she really wanted to surprise and hurt him bad because of the miserable way he had been treating her. The lawyer told her the best way was to say nice things to him and to treat him kindly so that he would be completely surprised and devastated when the divorce came. The lady thought it was a great idea. Three months later the lawyer asked the lady if she was ready to go ahead with the divorce. She said ofcourse not! After she had started treating him better, he began treating her great and the marriage was just terrific!

But how do we have courage to go on?  David remembered the miracles of his past. He said, “Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.” (1 Sam. 17:36) David remembered that God had helped him in the past and so would help him again in slaying Goliath. So …

3. Remembering YESTERDAY'S miracles will give you today's courage!
   
   

As it is written, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; who pardons all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from the pit; who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion; who satisfies your years with good things; so that your youth is renewed like the eagle." (Ps. 103:1-5)

When Jesus attended a wedding with His family he turned water into wine. But first the large water pots had to be filled with water. There were several large water pots and the servants had to go to the well and fill smaller containers with water and then bring them to the huge water pots. This was a mundane but huge task. It must have taken a long time to do. But somewhere in all that filling of the water pots, a miracle occurred. We do not know when but the water did turn into very good wine. It is the same with us; we have to keep working the tasks God has given us no matter how mundane, routine and boring. So we cannot give up because our miracle may just be around the corner.

Be willing to do whatever it takes accomplish your goal. Remember that the miracle is often preceded by the mundane. See things in a positive light or as God would see them and you will have courage and hope. Try to remember yesterday’s miracles and that will give you courage and faith.

DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS

1.   Why does the miracle often precede the mundane?

2.   Why do you have to prepare for a miracle?

3.   Why do we have to see things the way God sees them?

4.   What does fear mean?

5.   Why should we try to remember yesterday’s blessings?

6.   What are you doing to prepare for a miracle?