Whether we realize it or not, God is working all around us. I like to think of these works as divine interventions—as miracles. |
It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them.
(Hos 12:3)
God knows when we recognize His big and little miracles our perspective will change to be more in line with His. He knows that a right perspective leads to a richer life, and one that is more God-honoring.
God wants us to see Him at work in our lives in an ever-increasing manner, but problems, busyness and many other things can prevent us from seeing His handiwork. They hinder our vision and our ability to hear God, causing us to miss so many of His blessings.
But make no mistake about it—God is at work!
So here are…
10 Ways to Recognize God’s Little Miracles in Our Lives
1. Believe that God is indeed working
But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done.
(Deut 11:7)
“God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.” ~ Charles Spurgeon1
2. Develop an eternal perspective
Meditate on these passages: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Romans 8:18-27, Colossians 3:1-4, Hebrews 12:2
Read these blogs:
Enjoying Foretastes of Heaven NOW
Keeping Eternity in Mind THIS Moment in Time
How to Develop an Eternal Perspective of Your Heavenly Home
3. Develop an open heart
Don’t be stubborn and unyielding. If you’re a skeptic, open your mind at least to the possibility that God is working in your life.
“Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?”
(Mk 8:17-18)
They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.
(Ez 12:2)
4. Confess
Keep short accounts with your Savior. Unconfessed sin distorts the way we see things.
5. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see
Ephesians 1:17-18
6. Keep your antennas up
Actively look for signs of God’s intervention in your life.
7. Notice the small and subtle pieces of evidence-
as well as the big and obvious ones. Look especially with eternity and others in mind, such as:
- The drawing of a soul to salvation.
- Ability to forgive
- Inexplicable peace
- Not giving into a temptation.
[See below for an extended list of suggestions.]
8. Reduce the noise in your world
In her devotional, Jesus Calling1, Sarah Young imagines God saying:
“You need a buffer zone of silence around you in order to focus on things that are unseen. Since I am invisible, you must not let your senses dominate your thinking. The curse of this age is over-stimulation of the senses, which blocks out awareness of the unseen world.
The tangible world still reflects My Glory, to those who have eyes that see and ears that here. Spending time alone with Me is the best way to develop seeing eyes and hearing ears.”
9. Praise and thank God when you do see Him working and even when you don’t
Start a gratitude journal
10. Practice
The more you recognize God’s work, the quicker you’ll see it in the future.
So my friend, since God is invisible we need to increase our awareness of the spiritual realm. One day our faith will be our eyes and we’ll wonder why we ever doubted in the first place!
Pray with me:
Therefore, I fix my eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen; not on what I don’t have but what I will have and what I now have in the spiritual realm. Though my outward self is wasting away—my inner self is being renewed every day by abiding in my Savior. For my light and momentary troubles are achieving for me an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. Therefore, I will fix my eyes on You Jesus—my reward, my treasure, my everything. It’ll all be worth it! You will be worth it!
Questions to Help You See the “Little” Miracles of God
How, when or in what ways did you see or experience:
- An inexplicable sense of peace in the midst of chaos?
- An immediate answer to prayer?
- An answer to a longtime prayer?
- An answer to any prayer?
- A glimmer of hope that God is actually working in that prodigal child, a back-slidden mate, or a hardened soul?
- A lost soul coming to Christ?
- Spiritual growth in your stubborn child?
- Spiritual growth in someone you’re discipling?
- Spiritual growth in yourself?
- An overwhelming sense of God’s presence during your quiet time?
- An unexpected financial provision?
- Attaining a goal?
- Understanding of a Scripture passage that has always been puzzling?
- Strength to do a very hard thing?
- Ability to accomplish a task?
- Protection from a near-miss accident?
- Sustaining grace to persevere and endure a difficult time? A mundane time?
- Wisdom in a crisis/important decision?
- Confidence that you were making the right decision?
- A health issue resolved?
- Ability to forgive an extreme hurt?
- An unexpected opportunity to share your faith
- An uncanny way a situation or event unfolded
- A significant victory over a sinful habit?
- A small victory over a sinful habit? For example:
~Not giving into the temptation of yelling at your kid
~Keeping your mouth shut instead of blurting out an opinion or complaint
~Saying no to a second piece of cake
~Doing something productive instead of watching TV
There are many other possibilities.
God desires that we would see Him at work in our lives in an ever-increasing manner. Take time to contemplate those obvious and not-so-obvious works of God. He deserves it!
“So that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.”
(Isaiah 41:20)
Great are the works of the LORD; they are pondered by all who delight in them.
(Ps 111:2)
For a pdf of this list click here
1 Sarah Young, Jesus Calling (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2004), 174.
Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.