God of Wonders – From Minivans to Mission, He Testifies With Us
By Sarah Summers Granger
The other night, I had to make a last minute run to the grocery store. My 15 year old daughter, Anika, came with me. When we got into our ten year old minivan to leave the parking lot, I couldn’t put the van in gear; it would turn on, but not shift out of park. It had been a long and frustrating day – my baby was sick with salmonella, I was exhausted, we had run out of milk. Kevin, my husband, was at work with our other vehicle, and I didn’t want to be stuck at a store away from my sick baby. I tried several times restarting the engine and straining with all my might to move the gearshift to no avail. “Darn it!” I exploded, “This is the last thing I need.”
Anika looked at me seriously, “Did you pray?” I hadn’t. I immediately felt ashamed. We laid hands on the dashboard. “Lord Jesus,” I begged, “Please heal this car. Please let us be able to get home.” “Amen,” Anika agreed. I tried again. The van shifted easily into reverse, then into drive, and we drove home. The next day, the problem happened again in the morning. After some research, I figured out it was a blown fuse – an easy $5 fix. “Praise God!” I thought, as I replaced the fuse. Then it dawned on me. If the fuse had been blown the night before, preventing the car from shifting, there was no reason it should have shifted for me in the parking lot. “It really was a miracle!” I explained to Anika. She just smiled, “I know.”
[pullquote1 variation=”blue” ]”All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Mt. 28:19.[/pullquote1]Our God is a God who works signs and wonders. A blown fuse is nothing to Him. At the end of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells His disciples right before He sends them out to proclaim the Gospel, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. He has authority over everything – including minivans. This power that we have access to in Jesus is directly tied to the call to evangelize. I can look anyone straight in the eye and tell them without a doubt that Jesus cares about their problem, no matter how big or small, and that He can fix it. He can, and will, work miracles; I know, because He has worked them for me. I shouldn’t keep this testimony of His power to myself. He calls me to share this Good News of His awesome power. When we answer His call, we do not go out alone to proclaim the Gospel. In fact, Jesus promises us, “remember, I am with you each and every day until the end of the age.” Mt. 28:20. Each and every day. Jesus is with us in the grocery store parking lot or on the mission field, and He works wonders even when we forget to pray right away, and even if our prayer is frantic or hurried.
Every day when we lived in Mexico, people would come to the door asking for prayers of healing. Sometimes Jesus would heal them. Sometimes, we would pay for their doctor’s visit and medicine, and He would work through the doctors. I remember one morning as I was rushing out the door to go to a rancho with the kids, a lady walked in asking for prayer for her bloodshot, painfully irritated eyes. “I don’t know what’s wrong,” she said, “they hurt me all the time. It feels like there is sand in them.” Normally I would have said a thoughtful prayer with her, looked at her eyes, and perhaps recommended that she see a doctor, but I was in too much of a hurry. I grabbed the holy oil, anointed her eyelids, and quickly prayed, “God, heal your precious daughter. Amen.” “Come back tomorrow if they aren’t better,”
I said as I rushed her out of the house. She was back the next day, all smiles, “Could I have some more of that ointment? My eyes are completely healed! I want to keep it in case they ever hurt again.” “It wasn’t ointment that healed you,” I said, “That was holy oil I put on your eyelids. Jesus healed your eyes. It’s a miracle.” Her eyes filled with tears. She was amazed that God had healed her so quickly. I was amazed, too. As I shared with her more about God’s love for her, she was very open to hear and receive it.
[pullquote1 variation=”blue”] “God’s presence with us “each and every day” is real and tangible.” [/pullquote1] In Hebrews chapter 2 we read that “God testifies” with us “both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit.” We are called as missionaries (and all of us are missionaries by virtue of our Baptism) not only to disciple and teach, but to allow God to testify with us by performing signs and wonders and miracles through us. Miracles are a powerful witness, and we must beg God to work in supernatural ways, confirming the Good News that we preach with healings. We should also ask Him for anything that we need, even to fix a blown fuse, so that we can testify to His constant goodness in our lives.
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