Today Is A Great Day For A Miracle
By Marisha Apodaca
Recently, we were blessed at our regional meeting with the teaching of Chris Gore, Director of Bethel Healing Ministries in Redding, CA.
I came to the meeting expecting to learn about a healing model or some formula for healing people. Instead, Chris shared the heart of the Father and the richness of valuing His presence. He had a few miraculous stories to tell, but there was one that really went deep for me. It was his own story.
Chris shared that when one of his daughters was born, she had waited a long time to breathe and how the lack of oxygen led to her having long-term problems. The doctors told Chris and his wife, Liz, that their beautiful baby girl would never walk, talk, or do things that most kids would do. His daughter, now an adult, still requires constant care. They wake up in 2-hour cycles in the middle of the night to turn her over. He continued to tell us about his joy filled daughter and how she eventually was able to say “Mom, Dad, and car.” Since her birth, Chris has seen and prayed for many miracles throughout the world, but his adult daughter remains in a wheelchair.
I could feel the room pondering this mystery. Wondering why God hadn’t moved miraculously in his life. The sleepless nights, diaper changes, with no end in sight. Then Chris said something that pulled us out of our own thoughts. Chris mentioned how often we celebrate the miracle of someone getting up out of a wheelchair and how we forget to celebrate the other miracles. He celebrates the miracle that his daughter can say, “Mom, Dad, and car.”
In an instant, I could see that I had placed value on the wrong thing. I had focused on the things that she couldn’t do, instead of the things that she could do. I found that I was looking for the “walk out of the wheelchair story” or the “throw down the crutches story” that we are often told about. I was overlooking the miracle that was mentioned before me. She could speak. She is breathing. She is alive! That is the miracle.
How often have I overlooked a miracle? What miracles in my life had I not been recognizing because I wanted a different one? I began to wonder, what if the real miracle was found in my giving thanks to God? What gratitude would I give the Father for my “overlooked” miracles?
I see…miracle! I breathe…miracle! I exist…miracle!
As Chris would say, “Today is a great day for a miracle!” Have you identified yours?