The Ordinary Miraculous

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

“Julie, I had to call you after the court hearing. Do you have a moment to talk?” She and I had been praying for months over a difficult circumstance. An extended family member was navigating through the legal system, and we’d been praying specifically for this morning’s hearing.

As she told me what had transpired, I listened with increasing incredulity—her loved one had been divinely protected through the actions of a skilled attorney and a discerning judge. It was what I call the ordinary miraculous—God working through human institutions and knowledge to accomplish an otherwise extraordinary result.

Her recounting finished, I explained what should have happened under normal legal process and procedure. The outcome was such a deviation from the norm that it had to have been divine intervention. I reminded my friend of God’s sovereignty over all things, including our legal system and lawsuits, regardless of whether the decision makers know God. Then we hung up, both rejoicing over the result while praying specifically over the next steps in the process.

I believe in miracles. And while I’ve witnessed the extraordinary kind that are bigger than any plausible, human explanation, I’ve most frequently experienced miracles through humans (judges, doctors, and the like) whose exceptional clarity as to motivations or root causes was—without question—divinely inspired.

Ordinary miracles are no less miraculous for how God accomplished what he intended, and I’ve learned to watch carefully for his quieter handiwork, that he would get the glory no matter how he accomplishes the task. Watching for and proclaiming God’s work in and through ordinary means has been an ongoing source of encouragement, especially when I’m waiting on God in another area—in my own life or the life of someone I love. And noting those ordinary miracles in the lives of friends and family members has been a beautiful reminder that we are not walking through this life alone. God is moving, and he is able to “accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

Julie

Today’s Act of Gratitude

Make your own list of the ordinary miraculous works of God you have witnessed. As you pray for God’s intervention in a new circumstance, thank him for each miracle on your list, both as encouragement (for you) and as worship to him.