That Time I Witnessed a Miracle

I want to tell you a story about love. I’ll let you know ahead of the time that the girl doesn’t get the guy (or vise versa). We don’t decide to just be friends. However, there is an epic ending but not in the sense that you may be thinking.

When I was seven I went to church with very few people that looked like me as far as ethnicity was concerned. There was, however, one family and their son was just a couple years older than me. He wasn’t the cutest guy, or the most talkative but he was magnetic. I was drawn to him (yes at seven) and I knew that I loved him. I never professed my love but I did tell him that I liked him. He told me he didn’t like me back because I couldn’t beatbox. I told him beatboxing was dumb (only after my failed attempt to try it) and I moved on with my seven-year-old life. Our church later moved into a new building and his family didn’t move with us to the new location.

If you read my previous blog then you know middle school and high school was good to my love life. Five or six years later my mom moved us across town and I changed school. The summer going into eighth grade I attended a program to expose children to a variety of careers. As I waited to get on the bus to take me to my future career I overhear the girl next to me talking about her boyfriend. I’m trying my best not to hear her and then I hear his name. I turn to her; enter all into the conversation that does not belong to me, and proceed to repeat back to her the name she said. She confirms the name and I then rattle off the name of his mother and father to be sure we are speaking of the same person. Once again she confirms that he is indeed her boyfriend and I am brought back to my unrequited love. A year later, as a freshman in high school, I saw him out somewhere and exchanged numbers. We spoke on and off throughout that year but truth be told neither of us was interested in anything serious. I was talking to a couple of other guys, one of whom was his close friend (I was unaware at the time) and he was doing the same.  The last time we spoke for a while was when he stood me up about a year later. After that, I started dating someone else that was interested in me and once again I moved on with my life.

My senior year I found out he had been in a life-threatening altercation and there was nothing left to do but hope and pray for a miracle. According to the doctors if he woke up from the coma he would be a vegetable and that was their best-case scenario. I remembered how much love I had for him and every day I prayed for that miracle. On my knees, I would cry out to God for his healing. I remember one day leaving school and feeling this pressing in my spirit that I had to see him. I wasn’t sure where in the hospital he was but I knew I was going to find him. I found parking (which was a miracle in itself) and I started my way to the hospital. I didn’t know where his room was or if I was even allowed to see him. I just walked into the building, around a corner, through some double doors, and to his bedside. I had never seen anyone look so peaceful but scary at the same time. I prayed with him and I talked to him briefly (he was still in a coma) and then I left. I went back to my daily prayers for his healing and sometime later that year I received a phone call from him. God had healed his body, restored his mind and he was in good health. I will never forget that miracle because it was the benchmark for what I know God can do. I know I told you this was a love story and it is. I loved this boy with a pure love. There was nothing he did that made me love him. I just loved him and I wanted him to live the life God had for him even after I knew he wasn’t for me. I am also telling you this story to point out the love God has for us and how he wants to perform his miracles in our lives.

Here is the amazing thing about miracles. We ask God for them maybe for ourselves but mostly for others and what God does is creates a moment in time that will forever be a point of reference. We need these reference points in our lives to be kind of like a bookmark in a revered book that holds the location of where everything changed for you. Miracles work like pebbles in a pond. They affect ripples of people and create generational waves of belief. I’ve never forgotten the miracle God performed. My life changed forever. I know now what God is capable of and even that is a small fraction of what He can do.

Life may seem dark and dismal. You may be hanging on to by your pinky finger with 20-pound weights around your ankles but it’s not over. You are right where God wants you to be (and so am I). I am realizing that God doesn’t rush in like a flood when there is water in the well. It is when there is drought and every ounce of water has evaporated, we are dehydrated and lethargic that God puts His skills to the test. God hears you even when you don’t hear a response. He sees you even when you don’t feel him. He hasn’t left your side, he is right there. Trust that what you need will be provided. Keep the faith in his promise to you even if you must close your eyes but for a moment. God will.