Never belittle the power of an incremental miracle
Have you ever become discouraged because it seems your miracle has taken so LONG?
I remember a testimony about John Osteen (Joel’s father) and his spastic daughter, Lisa.
Lisa had no sucking reflex as a baby. She had no muscle tone. She lay in the exact position they put her and never moved.
They prayed over her every day. After months, one day, John noticed she was on her back. He asked his wife, Dodie, “Did you put Lisa on her back?” “No,” she said.
She had turned over! It was a small sign of what was to come.
Lisa was eventually totally healed and became a competitive gymnast in high school.
Here are some reasons you should not be discouraged by the slow changes in your miracle:
Christ laid hands on a blind man twice.
Jesus found a blind man in Bethsaida. It was a town known for unbelief. He took the man by the hand and led him outside the city (Mark 8).
After he laid hands on the man, he said he could “see men as trees walking.” A second prayer, and he could see perfectly.
Sometimes, the environment of prayer for a person makes a difference in the speed of the miracle.
If the Son of God had to pray again for someone to overcome unbelief, the same type of environment may be hindering our faith.
2. Changes can start very small.
When Elijah was praying for rain, he sent his servant seven times to look out over the Mediterranean. On the seventh trip, the servant saw a “cloud the size of a man’s hand.”
That tiny cloud turned into a massive thunderstorm in a short amount of time! It rained for the first time in three and one-half years.
Perhaps we are about to give up on the “sixth trip.”
Keep praying and keep looking.
When you see the tiniest change, start rejoicing that the miracle is on the way!
3. The Lord allows miracles to happen “little by little.”
When Israel invaded the promised land, the Lord told them that “The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little” (Deut. 7:22).
His reason? “The wild beasts will overrun the land.”
Timing is essential to God, allowing us to build our faith muscle.
“Little by little” means that day by day, month by month, you will conquer the cities. If He did it all at once, it would not be healthy for the land.
Relax, and let your miracle unfold.
Perhaps, you are growing impatient with the length of time you have been praying and waiting.
Start praising. Praise is the language of faith. It is eternal and lifts you into the eternal realm. There is no time there!
Stand on the solid rock of the Scripture. They cannot be broken.
Never belittle a tiny breakthrough. Even if it is just a baby turning over on its back…