Wednesdays in the Word

During spring break, my friend and I went to see Miracles from Heaven.
We both are both former Alias/Jennifer Garner fans. : )
I didn't know what it was about exactly and had I known, I may not have gone, only because being reminded of hospitals, diagnoses, and feeding tubes is still painful for me.

BUT, it was an awesome, true story and God got the glory. You should totally see it! And if you are a Third Day fan, Mac Powell leads worship in it.

As I was walking down the stairs of the theater to exit, a woman stopped me to tell me that her husband got a miracle too!  She said his "heart died three times" and "now he has a new one." I said "Praise God! That is awesome." And then I followed her and her happy, elderly husband while desperately hoping she wouldn't turn around and see me doing the ugly cry all the way out of the theater. And my sweet friend M, cried too because she knew...
At that moment all I could think is:
It is rough to be the ones who DIDN'T get a miracle...

I love when miracles happen. I totally believe in them. I've seen them happen many times. And I've been miraculously healed myself of reactive airway disease. -I had been sick in bed for three months and was supposed to be on meds all my life and would always susceptible to getting pneumonia. But God completely healed me that day, 14 years ago, when a dear man came to my house and prayed for me.

I may have had a bit of a pity party that night after the movie, but I ended up giving our lack of a miracle to God.

The next evening, as I was reading The Barbarian Way (a favorite of my Hubby and I) for a devotion time with my kids, something totally stuck me!
In chapter two, the story of John the Baptist being in prison is discussed. And we all know, John sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He was the One or if they should we look for another.
-We know that John was convinced He was the One earlier, because he testified to that fact to everyone who came to hear him speak. "I have seen and testify that this is the Son of God."
But being in prison must have been rough and made him have his doubts. His time was short and Herodias' daughter was working on her dance moves. ; )
I always thought that he sent his disciples to ask Jesus this because he had NOT heard of all the miracles Jesus was doing.
But Matt. 11:2-3 says that "When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him..."
Jesus has his disciples tell John about how the lame are walking, the blind are seeing and the kingdom of God is being preached to the poor. And then He also had them tell John
"Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."

And then what I read next, totally hit me like it was JUST for me!
It was the answer to not getting a miracle and it gave me peace.

"Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." Erwin McManus writes, is Jesus "saying to him, 'John, I'm not coming through for you. I'm not getting you out of prison. I'm not sparing your life. Yes, I have done all this and more for others, but the path I choose for you is different from theirs. You'll be blessed, John, if this does not cause you to fall away.' "

It was just what I needed to hear! "Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of Me."
-On account of what we think He should have done,
on account of what He didn't do,
on account of the way it happened.
All of it.

Let's never let our lack of a miracle cause us to "fall away."

This song and its declaration means so much to me right now.



~Becky