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¹⁴ You are the God who performs miracles;    you display your power among the peoples.-Psalm 77:14


If I had helped to write the Bible, there would probably be a whole lot more exclamation points in it! Like "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (!!!)"  or, "God gave his only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (!!!)" or "Jesus turned and saw her and said, 'Take heart, daughter, your faith has healed you.'  And the woman was healed at that moment (!!!)


Or what about when Jesus turned the water into wine (!!!) or when he walked on the water (!!!) or when he fed the 4,000 (!!!)?  It seems the miracles usually came without a lot of fanfare. 


I think that's why we often fail to recognize the miracles in our own lives.  We don't hear the drum roll or the trumpets or see the fireworks displays that we think should precede them.  But think about some of the miracles we've found in our lives... they are usually very quiet moments:  the second scan comes back clear; after years of trying, the pregnancy test stick turns blue; the answering machine holds the offer of that job we wanted so badly; the college acceptance letter is found among the pile of rejections.


The miracles just happen.  Just like in the Bible.  No drum rolls.  No fireworks.  No exclamation points.  No advance notice.  They often come after you've stopped hoping.  Stopped waiting and wishing.  And suddenly there it is in your lap.  And because it happens that way, we think of these wondrous miracles as just "a turn of events" and we don't even put our own exclamation points to them and we forget to give thanks.


Where do the exclamation points belong in the story of your life?


Lord God,
We are people who expect flash and fanfare with miracles.  Help us with our perspective.  Teach us to to see the quiet miracles in our lives.  Amen.


Joys:  A grandchild who came into my life at just the right time (!!!); a job I love (!!!); the way things just seem to "work out" when I'm worried about family finances (!!!)