(photo taken by Gabriel Torneros)
"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." ~ Hebrews 11:1
So this devotext is based off of one phrase, which is: Expect A Miracle. This phrase, as some of you may know, has been a big part of my life as of late. Being the rally cry for my Auntie Agnes as she battled cancer, I know there is a solid definition out there for this phrase. But to me, it means two things: have faith in God, and count your blessings. The first one goes hand-in-hand with what I talked about two days ago. I talked about those days or long stretches of time when everything seems to go wrong, when nothing seems to go your way, when giving up seems like the only option. My advice then is to lean on God in those times. That right there is hard enough. We, as human beings, want to take matters into our own hands, want to fix things ourselves. Lifting our problems up to God, at times, is the last thing we do. Keeping our faith in God, to me again, is even harder; especially if things don't get better as soon as I expected. Lifting things up to God, and having nothing happen right away, sucks. It's difficult. It's heart-wrenching. But it's part of faith, it's part of growing in our faith. One pattern I see myself going through when I encounter a long-lasting problem is that my confidence in God seems to rise the longer my problem goes on. It starts off with: "I can fix this." Then to, "Okay, God. I need a little help." Then to, "Okay, I need a lot of help, God." Then, "I can only do so much, can You fix this?" Finally, "Of course you can fix this, God. What was I thinking?"
See, we, or at least I, think we can fix any problem. But when we reach that point when we realize we really can't do anything anymore, our confidence in God skyrockets. Which is what I discourage you guys to do.
When God hits you with the big problems in life that seems to last forever, don't inch towards fully believing with that utmost confidence that God will take care of things. I encourage you guys to, right off the bat, believe that God will take care of you. "Don't just believe in miracles, expect them." (quoted my cousin) And I'm not saying to expect in an arrogant way. But really have the confidence that God has you in His hands. Believe that things will get better in time. Know that God has you on His perfect path, and things are going according to His plan. Have faith in our Father. Expect a Miracle.
Miracles happen every day. Waking up is a miracle. Being alive is a miracle. Living freely is a miracle. Having food to eat and water to drink is a miracle. Having any amount of money is a miracle. All this ties with my second part of my meaning of the phrase: Count your blessings. From the things we see, to the things we don't. From the things we notice, to the things we see as expected now, all are blessings. All are miracles. God can give and take away at any second. You, yes you, are a walking miracle. So is it hard to expect a miracle?
Expect God to carry you in whatever you're going through, but also know that you're not going through it alone. Your struggles are my struggles, your burdens are my burdens in this shared life. You are never alone.
Keep at it. Always look to God. Keep growing in God. Keep praying for each other. Always encourage each other. Always expect a miracle. And continue to show God's love to this world.
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