‘TA DA’

Everybody likes surprises, we all love it when something happens beyond our expectations. Frustration sets in when you expect one thing but get something less. Frustration is where your expectation exceeds your experience. Faith, on the other hand, is where your experience goes beyond your expectation! God loves to do things that go way beyond our thoughts, hopes or desires (Ephesians 3:20). He loves to show up in the middle of problem or battle in our lives, and shout with theatrical flair, ‘Ta Da! I’m here!’

Isaiah 64:1, 3-5 ‘Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down… For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways…’ (NIV)

Isaiah says he comes down and does awesome things that we weren’t even looking for! His presence, when it is suddenly revealed in a situation, causes mountains to shake. When Jesus spoke of casting mountains into the sea through what we say by faith, he didn’t mean that our words move mountains. No, it’s the presence of God who comes to back up our words of faith – that’s what works wonders. As in times of old, God is still able to exceed our expectation, he is still a wonderful God, a God filled with wonders!

The world, says Isaiah, has never seen a God like him, one who actually ‘acts on behalf of those who wait for him’. He’s a God who shows up in visible and often dramatic ways, coming to our rescue. Do you need for God to ‘come down’ and meet with you in your problem; to show up and make some noise? He will; all you need to do is wait with expectation, keep gladly doing what is right, and remember how he works, how he likes to do things.

Prayer: ‘Jesus, I really need God to turn up in a major way right now, and produce some wonders in my situation. I promise to wait for him and to keep doing right, in faith.’

GREATER THINGS ARE YET TO COME

GREATER THINGS ARE YET TO COME
Some people think that the age of miracles is long gone. Others say that miracles do happen, but only for certain specially gifted Christians. Actually, every Christian can be the agent of a miracle. One man who has seen more miracles than most in his lifetime is renowned German evangelist Reinhard Bonnke. One of his most significant miracles took place long before he became well-known. Reinhard, then an unknown missionary, invited an internationally renowned evangelist to come to a city in Lesotho, Africa for a series of miracle healing sessions, which were heavily advertised throughout the region. On the very first day of the meetings, the guest preacher told Reinhard that God was sending him home, and he left. Bonnke was at a loss – it was too late to turn people away, but there was nobody else to fill in as a guest speaker. So, with nothing but faith to go on, Bonnke told the people that he was going to speak and then God was going to work miracles. During his preaching, he felt God tell him to call for people who were totally blind. He did so and half a dozen people stood to their feet. Reinhard drew a deep breath and shouted, ‘In the name of Jesus, blind eyes open!’ Suddenly a woman screamed at the top of her voice: ‘I can see, I can see, I can see!’ She had been blind for four years. That was the beginning of a long miracle ministry that has touched whole nations. And it all started with one simple step of obedience. Sometimes, that’s all God is waiting for, a simple step of daring obedience. With courageous faith, even the least of us can experience great things!

In John 14:12-13 Jesus clearly says; ‘I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.’ (NIV)

Prayer: ‘Lord, thank you for showing the world the power of God’s love through the miracles you worked. Thank you that the age of miracles isn’t dead. Help me to take bold obedient steps of faith, to unlock the power of the miraculous in my life.’