Waiting for miracles

                                 A little food for weekend thought:

     From Mark Batterson: "All of us love miracles.  We just don't like being in a situation that necessitates one.  We hate finding ourselves between an Egyptian army and a Red Sea, but this is how God reveals His glory.  We want God to part the Red Sea when the Egyptian army is still in Egypt.  We want God to provide for our need before we even need it.  But sometimes God waits.  And then He waits longer...
     So why does God wait until the very last second to make His move?  Why does He let the Egyptian army get close?  Because you could make a movie about that someday!  And we love those kinds of movies, don't we?  Unless, of course, we're in the middle of them.  Once again, the God who provides just enough parts the Red Sea just in time."
   
     Boy, can I ever relate!  We want to experience God's miraculous provision in our lives...but we just aren't willing to be put in positions where we need His provision.  I want God to send His manna before I even begin to feel the pangs of hunger.  I want to know for certain right now that God will protect, provide for, and bless my children--but it's in their stretching and struggling and waiting that God builds into them His character.  Yes, I want miracles...but without the difficulties and hardships associated with needing those miracles.
     So, remind us Lord, if we want to see You working supernaturally in our lives, we must be willing to endure some waiting, some discomfort, and some uncertainty in the meantime.  If we never lack, we'll never recognize our need.  If we never wait or we're never desperate, we'll never make room for the God who provides "just enough, just in time."
     Miracles come at a cost...but boy, when they come, they usher in God's glory and grace like nothing else.  Help us, Father, to trust while we wait.  To God be the glory.