I went to bed hating the world last night. I had just watched the Angelina Jolie film – “First they killed my Father” – that shone a light on the tremendous suffering of the Cambodian people under the Khmer Rouge. It broke me. As I lay in bed trying to calm the roiling emotions of my heart, I thought of these last few pages of the history of the world and I quietly sobbed into my pillow. This world needs a miracle. After a sleepless night of dreaming about the Apocalypse, I poured a second cup of coffee and opened my Bible. Nothing gets your heart back on page faster than a moment with the Lord. I opened up to the Psalms and was instantly lifted as I read this in Chapter 65 of The Message Version: Blessed are the chosen! Blessed the guest
at home in your place!
We expect our fill of good things
in your house, your heavenly manse.
All your salvation wonders
are on display in your trophy room.
Earth-Tamer, Ocean-Pourer,
Mountain-Maker, Hill-Dresser,
Muzzler of sea storm and wave crash,
of mobs in noisy riot—
Far and wide they’ll come to a stop,
they’ll stare in awe, in wonder.
Dawn and dusk take turns
calling, “Come and worship.” Oh how we need to live in that place of good things and salvation wonders! How we need to camp ourselves in a revelation of a God who can tame the earth and sea, layer the landscape with such beauty, muzzle the storm, silence the noise. Every sunrise and sunset declares the miracle of it all and the awe of the Creator, who has chosen us! Like, wow! Just wow! The world is not what I want it to be. It is certainly not what God intended it to be. But I found this Scripture that is absolutely blowing my mind: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.” (Romans 8:19 NIV) Did you catch that last bit? Creation waits for the children of God to be revealed. That’s us! You and me! A couple of verses later, Paul writes that “the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” The world is in labour, waiting eagerly for the arrival of its salvation. And we are her midwives, calling into being that which is not. I am reminded of a woman in 2 Kings 4, who was needing a miracle for her family. She had been recently widowed and her husband had left her with debts that required immediate payment. If a miracle did not appear, her sons would be taken to pay off the debts. Her world was under threat. She approached the man of God – a prophet named Elisha – and told him of her need. He instructed her to gather every empty vessel she could find and bring it into her home. She had to make room for her miracle. She knocked on every neighbour’s door to secure the containers she needed. Who knows what kind of conversations she would have had to beg and plead for their loan, what promises she needed to make, what she might have traded for them. But eventually she had enough to fill her little home. God was going to deliver the miracle but she was acting as the midwife! When the vessels were gathered and organised, the widow closed her door with her sons, and, as per the instructions of Elisha, she took her last remaining resource – a small jar of oil – and began to pour. The oil began to flow, filling one jar and then another. She would have exchanged glances of disbelief, joy and wonder with her boys as this valuable commodity overflowed one container after another. By the time the last one was filled, she would have been a sobbing heap of gratitude on the floor. At least, that’s what I would be in her place! The miracle released her from the threat of losing her sons and would have laid up a secure future for them all after paying all her debts. She needed a miracle. God would deliver. She made room for it, preparing for its arrival. She acted as a midwife to the miracle, calling into being that which was not. The world awaits you, child of God. What do you need to call into being? How are you making room for it? I’ve got some stories to share with you about making room for miracles, so stay tuned. But, a week out from our Movement Conference, I’d like to encourage you all to make room for God to move by making sure you register! Be the midwives of something special God is birthing in our movement. All creation is waiting for you!
