What does it take to witness an actual miracle from God? Faith, desperation, and no other way.
This morning was like any other. The morning routine of trying to get a second grader to school on time with a toddler and newborn has proven to be the greatest challenge of my life as a mother.
I was frantically running around the house trying to wake up the kids, make a warm breakfast, pack a healthy lunch, not wake up the baby, take the dog out and feed her, brush my teeth, do my hair and the list goes on..
I send everyone to the car while I stay behind trying to carefully put the sleeping baby in the car seat. Please don’t wake up, please don’t wake up!
The car had been turned on earlier to warm up. I go out to the car, put the car seat in the car, and when I sit to drive off.. Just barely on time, I realize, it is off.
OFF?!! Is it the battery? No. Gas? Oh no.
It cannot be, I distinctly remember looking at the gas tank yesterday when we got home and I had a quarter of a tank!
My husband will be so upset! I’m always running low on gas, but it’s been so long since I actually ran OUT of gas!
What am I going to do?! We need to get to school on time and all the kids are already in the car (and awake by now). I call my husband at work but he is busy and cannot answer.
I have to figure this out.
Our driveway is on a steep hill so my first attempt was to put the van in neutral and roll it down into the garage so that if it sits flat, maybe the nonexistent gas in the tank will miraculously level out and turn the car on?
It was my best bet so I did just that. Car is in neutral, we are going downhill, picking up speed, about to roll into the nice and flat garage…when I notice right in front of me is our trash bin… of course.
So I put the car in park, move the trash bin out of the way, and here we go again! Take 2! For sure it will work this time.
Back in neutral and… I do not move a single inch. I had no more downhill momentum left to roll me in!
Back to square one.
The car is still at an angle, just not as steep and with the front end in the garage. Now what?
I waited a few minutes hoping that all the gas would have leveled out by now and somehow turned on my vehicle so we could be on our merry way.
I cranked and nothing. Of course, because if I had not realized it by now.. I HAD NO GAS!
Then I remembered the gas can. We had recently bought a gas can since this was not the first time I was very low on gas. The only problem being, the last time I was in a similar predicament (about a month ago), I used all the gas in the can and I knew it.
But what other option did I have? I was desperate. I grabbed the can and it was light as a feather.
Empty.
I did what only a crazy, desperate, overly exhausted mother of 3 with no choice would do. I took the very obviously empty can, and started to pour into the tank.
Hoping and praying (out loud) that something would come out, I flipped it upside down and tilted just right. I counted 1… 2… 3 drops. Three literal drops of gas is what came out and once I had given up and accepted defeat, I let go of the can to put it back and a fourth drop fell into the tank.
Was I seriously being mocked by my gas can?
I put the can back in the garage and since I had already exhausted all of my options, the only thing left to do was pray and try to turn on the car. I’m in desperate need of a literal miracle.
I need an actual miracle from God.
What happened next will stay with me for the rest of my life.
In the way that only God can do, it turned on! I told my son “the car might shut off but we are going to run with it in the name of Jesus!”
I started heading towards the nearest gas station. A/C was off, no music, just me proclaiming God’s glory, faithfulness, and mighty power.
I missed the turn to the nearest station not once, but twice! I just continued to cry out to God in prayer. By the time we were across the street from the (second) gas station, I was in full tears.
I was overwhelmed because I often feel that in the grand scheme of things, my issues are so small and insignificant. But I was reminded that morning that God cares! There is a beautiful song called “It Matters to the Master” that says “do you think the maker and giver of life is far too busy to care about your trouble and strife?”.
I sure felt heard that morning and from the moment the van finally turned on to the gas station was 12 minutes.
Here are 3 lessons I learned about miracles that day.
1. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
I once heard a pastor say, “you have to go places no one else will go in order to see things no one else will see”. We need to be in a place spiritually where we will desperately seek Christ for assistance knowing He is the only one who can help.
When we have tried all we could and exhausted every option we thought would work, that is when God can move mountains. In our moments of desperation is where God can grow our faith the most if we just learn to seek him.
2. God accounts for our stupidity.
The Lord was fully aware of my severe shortfall in sense of direction and accounted for me missing my turn to the first gas station. Not once…but twice.
Over the course of my life, I have found that none of my poor decisions have ever taken God by surprise. That time I said something I shouldn’t have, or I made the wrong choice; I find that God’s patience and grace extends beyond my stubborn nature, and lack of maturity and knowledge.
3. The Lord blesses the witnesses too!
A lot of times, the Lord will bless your faith in Him not just for you, but for those around you! to show others the blessings of living our lives faith filled and for Christ! My children got to see that day just how great, powerful, and faithful God is to His children!
My greatest blessing that day was not making it to the gas station. If the car would have never moved, we would have just had to stay home! No biggie.
The best part was that my 7 and 3 year old saw their mom praying and proclaiming in faith and they were witnesses to God’s faithfulness in providing for us always.
No matter how small your problem may seem, He is always listening and He cares. Something as simple as a few miles worth of gas turned into an experience that will remain with me and my 7 year old as a testimony.
That night at church (it was a Wednesday), we told the story over to everyone we knew about my failure and God’s mighty hand.
I am so grateful that, unlike my gas tank, God’s power and love never runs dry.
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