"ONCE UPON A MIRACLE!"

Written and preached by David P. Nolte

LUKE 1:26-38

1. MIRACLES USUALLY COME AS A QUIET SURPRISE:
1. Mary wasn't sitting there in eager anticipation of Gabriel's visit. She wasn't pacing the floor wondering what could be keeping this heavenly messenger. No, she had no clue, no idea, no hint that a miracle with eternal ramifications was about to take place. And when it came it was a total shock and surprise.
2. While we ought to live in the expectation that God will surely work in our lives, even miraculously, many times His handwork comes quietly, softly, surprisingly, and without preamble and when we are least expecting it.
3. God's miracles are usually unannounced, and God's miracles are not always bombastic and flamboyant and awesome.
1. Not all are accompanied by an angelic messenger.
2. Not all are partings of Red Seas, or the raising of a Lazarus or walking on water or the feeding of 5,000 or fire coming from heaven to consume an altar as on Mt Carmel in Elijah's day.
3. Some are just quiet things, simple things, little things, but wonderful miraculous things; things we need to recognize as God's miracles in our lives; things that remind us, softly, that He is at work in and through and for us.
1. The healing of an ailing marriage.
2. The restoration of a prodigal child.
3. The answer of a prayer for employment.
4. Providence for our needs in some way we could never devise for ourselves.
5. Just at the right time, and in the right way, guidance for our perplexity, the answer for our confusion.
6. Adequate strength for our weakness and inadequacy.
7. A friend sent to comfort us and encourage us in our grief and sorrow.
8. Protection and deliverance in our times of danger and difficulty.
4. Most of the time, God's miracles come that way; not in some powerful force of nature, or in some explosive, fantastic manner; just in a quiet surprise: just what we need, just when we need it most. Corrie Ten Boom illustrates this truth: She and Betsy were in prison at Ravensbruck. She wrote, "We stood beneath the spigots as long as the flow of icy water lasted, feeling it soften our lice-eaten skin. Then we clustered dripping wet around the heap of prison dresses, holding them up, passing them about, looking for approximate fits. I found a loose, long-sleeved dress for Betsie that would cover the blue sweater when she would have a chance to put it on. I squirmed into another dress for myself, then reached behind the benches and shoved the little bundle quickly inside the neck. It made a bulge you could have seen across the Grote Market. I flattened it out as best I could, pushing it down, tugging the sweater around my waist, but there was no real concealing it beneath the thin cotton dress. And all the while I had the incredible feeling that it didn't matter, that this was not my business, but God's. That all I had to do was walk straight ahead. As we trooped back out through the shower room door, the S.S. men ran their hands over every prisoner front, back, and sides. The woman ahead of me was searched three times. Behind me, Betsie was searched. No hand touched me. At the exit door to the building was a second ordeal, a line of women guards examining each prisoner again. I slowed down as I reached them but the Aufseherin in charge shoved me roughly by the shoulder. 'Move along! You're holding up the line!' And so Betsie and I arrived at Barracks 8 in the small hours of that morning, bringing not only the Bible, but a new knowledge of the power of Him Whose story it was." Miracles usually come as a quiet surprise.

2. MIRACLES HAPPEN BEYOND, AND INDEPENDENT OF, OUR OWN ABILITIES:
1. Mary could not understand this message. How could she, a virgin, bear a child? Yet when she understood that it was by the power of the Holy Spirit, and not by her own efforts, she gladly acceded to the angelic word. She would obey without full understanding. And that's faith, the faith that opens our lives to His miracles.
2. Often God allows us to come to the end of our resources, the dregs of our strength, the exhaustion of our ability before He acts so we will know it is all of Him and none of us.
1. He spoke to Zerubbabel about the rebuilding of the temple. Perhaps Zerubbabel thought the task too great for him; but God said, "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty." Zechariah 4:6 (NIV).
2. God said, "Let not the wise man gloat in his wisdom, or the mighty man in his might, or the rich man in his riches. Let them boast in this alone: that they truly know Me and understand that I am the LORD Who is just and righteous, Whose love is unfailing, and that I delight in these things. I, the LORD, have spoken!" Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NLT).
3. And Paul wrote, "Instead, God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And He chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important, so that no one can ever boast in the presence of God." 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (NLT).
4. And he wrote, "What do you have that God hasn't given you? And if all you have is from God, why boast as though you have accomplished something on your own?" 1 Corinthians 4:7 (NLT).
3. There are just things beyond human capability, things that, to happen, demand miraculous power.
1. We can't make ourselves into new creatures, but Jesus can.
2. We can't atone for our sins, but Jesus did.
3. We can't save ourselves, but Jesus does.
4. We can't work our way to Heaven, but Jesus will take us there.
5. We can't do many things for ourselves or by ourselves but God has His ways of providing in those times.
4. I got this from Jan Johnson and loved it. It is the story of a woman who was part of a quiet miracle that happened beyond her ability to engineer it. She was driving home, stuck in traffic, and the car started to choke and splutter. She coasted into a gas station. The car wouldn't even turn over. Before she could make a phone call, she saw a woman walking out of the quickie mart building, and it looked like she slipped on some ice and fell into a gas pump, so she got out to see if she was okay. It looked more like she had been overcome by sobs than that she had fallen. She was a young woman who looked really haggard with dark circles under her eyes. She dropped something, and the lady picked it up to give it to her. It was a nickel. At that moment, everything came into focus: the crying woman, the ancient Suburban crammed full of stuff with 3 kids in the back, and the gas pump reading $4.95. She asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept saying 'I don't want my kids to see me crying,' She said she was driving to California and that things were very hard for her right now. So the lady asked, 'And you were praying?' That made her back away but the lady said, 'He heard you, and He sent me.' The lady filled her gas tank, and while it was fueling, walked to the next door McDonald's and bought 2 big bags of food, some gift certificates for more, and a big cup of coffee. She gave the food to the kids in the car and stood by the pump eating fries and talking a little. The young mother said that she lived in Kansas City and her boyfriend had left her and she had not been able to make ends meet. She knew she wouldn't have money to pay rent and finally in desperation had called her parents, with whom she had not spoken in 5 years. They lived in California and said she could come live with them and try to get on her feet there. So she packed up everything she owned in the car. The lady gave her her gloves, a little hug and said a quick prayer with her for safety on the road. As she was walking over to her car, the young mother asked, 'So, are you like an angel or something?' She replied, 'Sweetie, at this time of year angels are really busy, so sometimes God uses regular people.' She wrote, "It was so incredible to be a part of someone else's miracle. And of course, you guessed it, when I got in my car it started right away and got me home with no problem. I'll put it in the shop tomorrow to check, but I suspect the mechanic won't find anything wrong."

Once upon a miracle God sent His Son to help us in our difficulties. He came to us when we were at our lowest point. He came to heal our lives when we were most broken. He came to seek us when we were lost and abandoned. And His love goes on seeking. And His grace goes on forviging. And His power goes on saving. And His hand goes on reaching down to where we are to perform a miracle in each life, the miracle of rebirth. As His birth was miraculous, so is the rebirth we enjoy in Jesus as we trust and obey Him. He stands ready today to give you a new life. An abundant, rich, full, free, eternal life. All you have to do is receive it by putting your faith in Jesus and, because of that faith, obeying Him as Lord. To all who put their lives at His disposal as did Mary, He gives hope and power and grace and life. Come to Him in faith and see what He can do in His miraculous way in your life. One great miracle He waits to do is to change your heart. Only He can do that, and He will if you come to Him in faith.

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