Seeing God’s Hand in Difficult Times

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It was a defining moment for me.

I sat at my desk feeling disappointed in myself for having lost my temper and yet frustrated by my circumstances. I was on a waiting list for a procedure so I could be put on a waiting list for a necessary  operation. I couldn’t explain why, but I felt an urgency about this operation.

Somehow I knew I must have it soon! And yet it was out of my control.

And I began to react as I usually do when I’m not in control…

I rant

I complain

I grow angry and bitter

And then I heard this voice, “Will you choose this time to grow through this season of difficulty? Will you choose to see my hand? Will you choose to surrender to my hand in all of this?”

Suddenly, it was like my eyes were opened and I could see a greater purpose!

The physical pain was still there. Whether or not I could find a way to have the operation sooner was still uncertain, but suddenly I saw beyond my mountain to One who had the power to not only change my circumstance, but ME in the process.

You see, it’s not always about God moving mountains, but the opportunity we have to grow as we choose to allow Him to teach us new responses to uncertain and frustrating circumstances.

In that moment I chose to surrender to the hand of God, an unexplained peace filled my heart.

Suddenly, doors began to open to me: I started a Go Fund Me fundraiser to raise the funds I would need to have the operation by a private doctor and in less than a week, thanks to the amazing generosity of friends – and even people I’ve never met – I raised all the money I needed.

Four days later a friend called me to let me know that her aunt, who is a head nurse in a hospital 2 hours east of me, was able to get me in for the operation….and I would only  have to wait 4 days – not 2-3 months!

Each step of the way I praised the Lord for this amazing miracle, knowing that my response to Him positioned me to be able to receive this gift He had for me: the ability to watch Him do what was seemingly impossible to do!

You see, our response to difficult times and seemingly impossible situations is critical to being positioned to seeing God’s miracle hand at work!

I believe there are many times we miss this opportunity because we are not positioned properly.

Just like in sports: football, basketball, baseball…for a player to make the winning toss, touch down, or home run, they have to positioned properly to receive the ball!

Position is vital to them…and to us.

The Bible says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…”

We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. The question is, are we positioned to receive them? They are already there, but are we partaking of them?

In recovery I was handed a small plastic bottle, inside were 10 gallstones – each the size of a large pebble. Later the nurse told me that I had come in at the 11th hour. Had I waited one more week to have my gall bladder removed I would have had a major gall bladder attack because it was chronically diseased. Had I waited to be put on the waiting list for the operation, my pancreas would have become infected, too.

The urgency I felt to have the operation done was the Holy Spirit prompting me to act, even though I couldn’t explain why. Yet, the Lord arranged impossible circumstances for two reasons:

1. To allow me to take some necessary steps toward spiritual maturity that until that moment I had refused to take.

2. To show His might and power as in the span of 10 short days He miraculously made an impossible situation possible!

Are you facing an impossible situation? I invite you to first surrender to the hands of the One who has all the power to not only change your circumstance, but change your heart in the process. You see, this is not a magic formula to find an exit from your trial, but an opportunity to see His hand at work in you through the trial! And that’s the real miracle in all of this!