Define: Miracle

Define: Miracle

How does one define 'miracle'? A Google search produced all sorts of explanations, from the secular - an extremely outstanding or unusual event - to the more religious concept of inexplicable happening deemed to be Divine Intervention.

Personally I see miracles, huge and minuscule, in all sorts of ways. Stories abound about individual out-of-the-blue experiences that often change the trajectory of one's life, even saving it sometimes. Like the young man who came down with a very bad flu, having to cancel his job interview at the World Trade Center, on September 11, 2001.

Maybe it comes down to how we perceive our reason for being here. Are we just random useless breathers or are we designed/assigned to step up to something way bigger than us, connecting, interacting, sharing, encouraging, representing, adding on instead of subtracting from the whole?

About a month ago Hubs and I decided we wanted to upgrade to matching recliner chairs where we sit every morning, sipping coffee and catching up on the the latest news.

That weekend we walked around Rooms To Go testing out the options until we found the crown jewel. Remote control, heat, massage, cup holders, comfy seat and back. The delivery time was set for three weeks. We went about our lives as usual looking forward to our upcoming improved morning experience.

Three weeks later - the day after I came home from the hospital to recuperate from hip surgery caused by a fall - our new recliners were delivered.

Like a miracle.

Our old chairs would have been less than comfortable for me in this present situation. But also, now, as I am forcing myself to do my arduous physical therapy exercises, I am consoled with a heated back massage.

Many, if not most, would blow this off as just a coincidence but I can attest that once you are completely surrendered to God's will, you can't see anything as a coincidence.

Some might argue that God doesn't care if I have a comfortable chair to languish in as I recover from a damaged hip. These might also claim that there is no such thing as a 'good' God since bad things happen to good people. These are also those who prefer to define God to be a remote, disinterested unreachable being, if He even exists at all.

To these I say - none of this aligns with my 'lived experience'.

I don't know how to explain this, though I have tried for many years. I can only sum up by saying, we, as limited humans, cannot begin to understand what is good or bad. We can hurt, we can grieve and God absolutely understands this even as we often must suffer through. But He also knows what we do not. After all, He wrote the script. He knows the beginning to the end. All we have to do is listen, obey and trust and ...in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:6

I've said that many times too. I guess the only way to fully understand is to experience it yourself, a miracle that most would say was just a coincidence.

I can hear the naysayers sniffing, noses lifted, challenging me to explain why God would orchestrate comfort for me when so many others are suffering and needing help. I have no answer for that except that I chose long ago to seek a One on one relationship with Christ that brings Him to the front as I recede. I am not special nor a golden child. All I can say is that what I am is all about Him, not me, and what He wants for and expects of me, whatever that might seem to cost in human terms. Everyday the headlines shout out tragedy and troubles, the news reflects the worst things that happen here in this mortal realm. Miracles are not particularly news worthy.

I unapologetically and gratefully acknowledge He is with me through thick and thin. He knows me, even when I have tripped and hit the concrete He is there, things already in place. Like my grandson minutes away coming to do some chores for me. Like the elevator we included in the design of this house sixteen years ago. The layers are so deep and wide we can't comprehend because of our human limitations.

Like the perfect recuperation chair being delivered on the exact right day.