‘A Miracle Please!’

She stood alone on the rooftop looking up at the night sky with tears that refused to fall; they had already been falling for too long. She asked Him, ‘God, do you still love me?’—She listened for an answer and didn’t hear anything. There was no sign sent from above, there was no message in the clouds. She wanted a miracle. She wanted to see the answer to her question laid out before her. What she didn’t realize though, was that His answers were all around her, she just had to open her eyes to see them. Often times we call out to God, praying for a miracle, praying for something to change drastically and instantly—but we look around and see nothing. We go on living in a world without miracles, constantly passing through days without miracles. The truth is, it’s not that there are no more miracles; it’s that we refuse to see them for what they are.

Our Beloved Prophet ﷺ (peace be upon him) stood in front of the people one morning, telling them of a journey he made the night before. He told them of al-israa wal-miraaj in which he traveled across countries and rose to the heavens for a sacred meeting with his Lord. Those listening to the account split into two groups: those who accepted the miracle and welcomed it open heartedly and those who denied the possibility of any such journey taking place and denied the miracle all together. Those who accepted the miracle were instantly blessed with the magnificent feeling of awe and love for the One who made that miracle possible. Those who denied the miracle didn’t get any such feeling of awe and love, nor did they find themselves in a miraculous situation, one we all wish to find ourselves in one day. Every day, this same scenario occurs, on a smaller, but still miraculous, scale. And every day, we get to choose what group we will be a part of: those who accept the miracle and are instantly rewarded; or those who deny the miracle and reap nothing. What we don’t realize however, is that when we deny the miracles that occur before our very eyes every day, we deny their effect in our lives and are left scrambling for hope.

Whenever we find ourselves in a difficult situation, the first and most important thing we need to remember is that no matter what happens, nothing we do on our own will cause any beneficial change to occur. The only One in our lives that can make a change is God Himself—when He wills it and with His might, not ours. With this in mind we begin our struggle with spiritual action rather than physical action. Before even moving a muscle we turn our hearts and minds to Him and ask Him for a miracle. This, of course, doesn’t mean we should not put our own effort into fixing our situation; rather, it means that we recognize that our actions are simply a means. The means is not what changes the situation, the change lies in the miracle. With that in mind, no situation is beyond repair, no problem is too big, and no hope is too ambitious. On that same note, God has told us that He is as we think of Him. If we do not fully believe that God will change our situation, then He won’t. If we do not think that we will see miracles in our day-to-day lives, then we won’t. If we do not think that He can miraculously change our lives from pits of misery to a life of love and worshipping Him, then he won’t. When we full-heartedly believe in the miracles of our Lord, we will begin to see them each and every day.

Miracles don’t necessarily have to be a message in the clouds or a crystal clear dream. Rather, miracles can be seen in the smallest of things. It can be that moment when we feel like we are too weak to carry the burden that has been placed on our shoulders, and then He shows us an ant carrying a load many times its size to remind us that if He brought us to it, He’ll bring us through it. It can be seen in that excruciating fear we go through when we realize we forgot to turn off the electric stove and our house will surely burn down, and we return home to find the rain caused the electricity to go out, saving our house and our cooking reputation! It can be seen in that moment when we feel like our faith has hit an all-time low, and He blesses us with people to give us exactly the reminders we need, in the manner that we need it in. These are not all ‘coincidences’; rather they are miracles from the One above, bringing us closer to Him. But of course, it just depends on how we look at it.

Action Item: Try it for yourself. Over the next few days, keep your eyes wide open for His miracles, and feel free to ask for them. You’ll come to see they’re everywhere; we just have to wake up and pay attention.