Big Miracles. Unchanged Hearts.
I’m starting to understand why God doesn’t perform “big” miracles in front of us anymore, like in the days of Exodus. He brought on plagues, He parted the waters, He caused manna fell from the sky, and yet the people repeatedly forgot that God was good and that God was for them.
““Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.””
A changed heart takes time, it takes breaking and molding, fashioning and finishing. Thinking back to the pivots in my life where my heart changed in a certain way or concerning a certain topic, it took time. The Holy Spirit continued to place information in front of me that caused me to pause and reflect and challenge what I previously thought. Other times, many times, it was through a series of events that broke me in ways that were painful. I experienced pain, disappointment, depression, isolation, and exhaustion. In these moments all I could do was call out to God and ask Him to redeem the situation or to explain what had gone terribly wrong.
God could change the terror of this world in a moment. He could rain down enough food to wipe out famine. He could send out a lion to protect those who need protection. He could restore the planet with one gust of wind. But I don’t believe that would change our hearts. We would be grateful and praise Him, for a time. Then, we would find a new problem to complain about and ask why He wasn’t fixing that one!
Out hearts, or better our souls, need time to change, to become something better and less bitter. Our circumstances may not change much, but the way we see them, the way we approach them can dramatically change how we live through them.
Pray for a discerning heart. Pray for eyes to see how He is changing you into the person who could change your own circumstances. Pray for the presence of God to fill your soul and refresh you when days get long and hard.
God wants our participation in the plan for this world. He wants us to work in and through this world.
“Let every man gather it according to each one’s need”
He’s not likely to drop the solution in our lap and give us the physical tools we need. He wants us to change as we participate in His plan. He wants our obedience and trust in His sovereignty. He wants the work to bring us closer to Him and His glory. He wants us with Him, not looking to Him for answers from afar.
