The Cost of Miracles
The saying goes, “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.” Let’s just say March has been real “Simbaing.” During the 1st Sunday’s service, my Pastor, Sharon D. Nesbit declared and decreed March to be the month of miracles. As we embraced that declaration, she additionally cautioned to remain prayed up and connected to God, as the enemy would attempt to thwart the decree. I reflected upon one issue that I desired to the hand of God. Sure, I had other thoughts, but this one settled in my spirit as my narrowed focus. The following day, we joined together in prayer and worship as a collective, as an act of surrender and corporate belief in the God of miracles. We had a glorious time in the Lord. When I returned home, I learned that what I set before the Lord was answered. But wait, before you cue the shout music, please note that while God answered my desire, it came at a cost. Answering my prayer resulted in collateral damage, so to speak. While I am grateful for God doing immediately what I petitioned, I also had to ask for God’s covering over those impacted and subsequently hurt from my answered prayer, my miracle that for the last six months has seemingly been out of reach. My influence, my wordsmithing or reasoning failed to produce my desired outcome; yet here I was just a few hours after the Word of the Lord was declared through His servant, surrounded by the wreckage, the cost of said miracle.
What do we do when God does something miraculous for us that may present as devastating for someone else? Sure, we’ve seen it on television and movies; a horrific car accident where there is loss of life, while someone else is holding on by a thread, in need of an organ. Suddenly, the miracle for one is the result of terrible consequence of another. Now, I want to be clear, what I sought the Lord for was not Grey’s Anatomy worthy, but it did not possess joy, affirmation, peace nor abundance - at least not now. Daily, we should seek these, particularly because that is the essence of why Christ died on the cross. John 10:10 affirms, “I came that you may have life and that more abundantly.” So, the miracle I believed God for reflected this intention, but it also resulted in others being negatively impacted, from their perspective, and my witness. As such, I don’t wish to minimize the gratefulness that I have toward God for responding in a manner that is good overall, but I also don’t wish to neglect my responsibility to posture myself in prayer and ask for the miracle of healing for those impacted by the cost of my miracle. Mark 9:23 reads, “And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” So therefore, if I believe that God can perform miracles, I can also believe God to heal the environment, the people, places and things impacted by the weight of my miracle.
Lord, bless us today. Thank you for performing miracles today, tomorrow and forevermore; and thank you for your care and intention in the earth for those who are impacted by the cost of miracles. Thank you Lord that you are the One that can make the impact of the cost of your miracles be likened to the lamb at the conclusion of March or any other time you are not bound by. Amen.