Defining Your Miracle Point – 3

Bible Reading: John 11

Some time ago, I was caught up in a motor accident where the bus somersaulted several times before it came to a halt.  When it stopped, it was lying on its side and some “good Samaritans” assisted in helping the passengers get out. I became terrified after I struggled out of the bus and realized that some passengers had passed out. I then took away my shredded shirt and did a quick checkup of my body parts. They appeared to be in place except for some bruises all over my body. I felt everything was fine and dashed immediately to my destination. But I was wrong. About 5 hours later, my legs, hands and head seemed to be heavier than a bag of cement as I experienced difficulty lifting them up. Everyone around me was screaming and they were about to rush me to the hospital when I persuaded them to give me some time to rest. They agreed.

At this juncture, I had to define my miracle point. I reasoned within myself – if I dare go to the hospital this way, I would be placed on admission and would not be able to honour the invitation to minister at a Church’s youth convention which was just two days away. Moreover, the church was about 900km from where I was.

On a second thought, I considered the possibility of getting well instantly and miraculously so that I could embark on this journey and grab the opportunity of impacting lives and leading many to salvation?

Another idea came to mind – I could give the church a call and explain that I will not be able to make it due to the accident. But would Jesus have done that if he was in my shoes? Wouldn’t that pooh-pooh the ministry of the King of kings? But right now, Jesus is fine at the right hand of the father. I was the one suffering from pains. What will I do?

Just before I tell you what I did, let’s consider some similar occurrences in Bible and how people defined their miracle point.

In John 11, I read about a story of Lazarus who was sick. His sister, Martha, sent a message to Jesus requesting that he should come and heal Lazarus. Jesus was unable to make it to Lazarus’ house on time, and so he died. As soon as Jesus came around and Martha saw him, she said “If you had been here, Lord, my brother would not have died!” John 11:21. Can you see how she defined the miracle point? It is obvious that she was expecting healing to come if and only if Jesus was physically present with them. She said “If you had been here”. Perhaps Lazarus would not have died if she had acted like the centurion who came to Jesus and said “my servant lies paralytic in the house, but only speak a word, and my servant shall be healed” (Mat. 8:5-8).

The woman who suffered severe bleeding in Mat 9:20 defined her miracle point as “if I can touch his dress”; the centurion said “if you can speak a word”; Martha said “if you had been here”; But Tope is lying with pains on the bed after a ghastly motor accident, how would he define his miracle point?

I opened my mouth to declare – “Lord, if you could save me from that accident then you can heal me from every pain and bruises. Tomorrow morning I will set out on my journey to minister to your people. I want you to help me to have a deep sleep tonight. When I wake up, I want to forget that I even had an accident the previous day because all the bruises will be dried up, all these pain will be gone and I will be completely healed”.

By the next day, I woke up late and started rushing to catch up with a bus. I was on my way when I remembered that I had an accident the previous day. I quickly inspected my body and realized that all the bruises were dried and all the pains were gone. Glory to God! I went to that church and after the message, many listeners made a commitment to serve God all the days of their lives.

Beloved, many good things may be dying in our lives because we are defining unfavorable miracle points like Martha instead of opting for favorable miracle points like the centurion. Remember, our main responsibility in life is to use the resources of Christ at our disposal to attract others to God’s kingdom. Christ has given us all the power, grace, anointing, resources and divine connection we need (Eph 1:3, II Pet 1:3). Let’s be committed to using these abilities to fulfill our responsibilities.

– tope aladenusi