I am late writing yesterday's miracle because I was driving all night to reach Missouri to visit my friend who is very sick with cancer. I arrived here at 4am, and I am overcome with emotion right now.
Although I need to take a nap from the long drive, I couldn't sleep until I wrote the miracle that God gave me on the way here.
On Thursday, I had received a text saying that I should come visit my sick friend as soon as possible. The cost to drive our big E350 van would be around $400.00!. The money just wasn't in our budget; but because I felt like that was what I was supposed to do, I went anyway knowing that God would somehow provide.
On the way there, a friend we do business with sent me this text completely out of the blue: "Hi my sweet Rachel! We are finally at a place where we can pay the extra 400 so I'm glad that we were able to this month. Love you." I never asked this person to pay the extra or even expressed a need for it. We had talked about maybe eventually increasing the payment; but on her own, out of the blue, she just did it.
First of all, she is one amazing person to pay that much extra money when she wasn't even required to do so. She just felt inspired to do it, so she did.
Secondly, I thought the timing was a special part of this miracle. If I had received the text before I left on the trip, it would have been easy to make the choice to go. No faith would have been necessary to make the choice because I would have already known we had the money to do it. However, God wanted me to apply my faith before HE showed me the miracle. I felt the Spirit telling me to go; I went, and then I received the text saying that the exact amount of money we needed had already been deposited into our bank account.
When my father was serving as a missionary in Brazil many years ago, he became very sick and was bed-ridden. One of the 12 apostles in our church, Joseph Fielding Smith, came to his bedside. As a young man at the age of 20, my father asked him, "What is the most important thing I can do in this life?" His answer: "Have faith and trust in the Lord, Jesus Christ."
I believe that Jesus provides us with daily opportunities to increase our faith in HIM, and we have the agency to choose to act on that faith. I know that as we "have faith and trust in the Lord, Jesus Christ," miracles will follow.
What an AMAZING story and example to the rest of us! I found myself nodding in agreement when you wrote, "No faith would have been necessary to make the choice...God wanted me to apply my faith before HE showed me the miracle." WOW!!! Exactly what I needed to hear! Sometimes I find myself apologizing to Father in Heaven for not being more faithful, eventhough I promised I would. Sometimes I feel like I am still using my Learner's Permit when it comes to driving my faith in my life. There are so many areas that could use my attention with regards to "what should I do?", but the Lord wants to see me ACT with FAITH and then I will be blessed FOR my faith and more than likely, blessed in whatever action I have chosen. OUTSTANDING lesson for a Saturday evening. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your response! My hope is that my thoughts are being understood in the spirit that they are written. Thank you. I too feel like I am using my Learner's Permit most of the time- I liked your comparison. I try so hard, but life continues to present new, many times harder, opportunities to apply my faith. So... I just accept that I'm learning, and I promise to try better next time. I'm so grateful for continued opportunities!!!
DeleteRachel,
DeleteI loved this story of faith. Reading your blog it is very inspiring. You are a great example to me of noticing God's hand in your life and expressing gratitude! I also love how you teach your children faith and trust in God!
Love you and your family!!
Sharon! It is so great to hear from you. Thank you for our comment. I'm just giving what I have and hoping for God to make up for where I lack! You are a WONDERFUL example of giving your all to God. Thank you for your friendship.
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