2S7-31: The Hidden Miracles in Your Life—Have You Noticed Them Yet?

The Book of 2nd Samuel contains various kinds of literature written by anonymous writers.

Under the inspiration of God’s spirit, these authors came together and pieced together this period of Israel’s history into one coherent work.

Now, one characteristic that stands out between Scripture and other ancient writings is that ancient gentile literature glorifies their heroes.

The Bible does NOT.

The battles in Scripture are described in a very matter-of-fact fashion.

There aren’t any dramatic descriptions fleshing out all the blood and gore like you’d see in a Hollywood movie.

Nor are battle heroes deified and portrayed as great men of war.

Why is this?

The answer is simple.

The priority is God, not men.

The focus is on divine principles and patterns rather than swords spilling guts onto the ground.

Now, here’s the thing.

Although the editors of Scripture may have been guided by the Spirit…

Few recognized that God was working behind the scenes, guiding and protecting Israel.

That understanding can only come with the benefit of hindsight.

This leads to our takeaway for today…

If there’s any advantage we have over the authors of Scripture, it is most definitely hindsight.

We can look back and see for ourselves how God has worked in history.

This is reassuring because when we see the miracles the Lord performed in the past…

We can have confidence that He will do the same in the future.

In fact, to that point, I’ve got an interesting exercise for you that I think you’ll find greatly inspiring.

Get out a pen and paper and, with the benefit of hindsight, write down all the times the Lord worked in your life.

I think you’ll be amazed at how many times God supernaturally intervened, even if you couldn’t recognize it then (sometimes just in the nick of time) to protect and guide you.

If you do this exercise, please share in the comments!

It will serve to inspire others as well.

Here are some of mine:

MIRACLE 1:

In my early years in Japan, I needed money to renew my apartment contract, and I didn’t have any cash. However, a deposit owed me came in just in the nick of time to cover how much I needed.

MIRACLE 2:

I had a mini-stroke last December 2024, and the results were so negligible that today, it’s almost as if nothing happened.  I was hospitalized for a week, but all I experienced was a slight loss of temperature sensation in my left hand that seems to be coming back due to “neuroplasticity.”   Also, thank God I had a little bonus money come in from my recruiting job that enabled me to pay the hospital bill in full (with the help of health insurance, of course!).  My doctor did tell me I’ve gotta take blood thinners for the rest of my life, though.

MIRACLE 3:

The fact I’ve been able to do this blogging through God’s Word day in and day out for over a decade is, for me, an awesome miracle and a testament to God’s Spirit giving me an undying passion for His Word and the desire to share His Word with the world.  Heck, I was even blogging while I was in the hospital, with several intravenous tubes hooked up to my body.

MIRACLE 4:

The fact that the Lord has kept me single all of my life even though there was a time in my life when I thought it was a curse, and there was a time when I desperately wanted to be married.  But honestly, the motivation was more for social approval so I wouldn’t be seen as a loser, (yes, I was that damn insecure and immature!), than any real sincere desire to wanna be tied down with a wife and kids.  After witnessing several marriages among close friends fall completely apart (including my own parents), not to mention the 50% divorce rate in the United States, through God’s grace, I think I may have dodged a bullet.

MIRACLE 5:

Due to a billing issue mix-up, one day my gas was suddenly shut off, but just in the nick of time, a Google Adsense payout (for this blog, actually) came in the very next day, enabling me not only to pay the bill but to have a nice dinner that night as well.

MIRACLE 6:

All of the connections from around the world through this blog, including a brother who flew in from Kuwait (he’s an American working for the US military and is stationed in Kuwait).  In fact, out of all the hospital visits I got, he was the only person who visited twice!

MIRACLE 7:

The contract job I got at TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company).  The job was so relaxing with so much ridiculous down time, I like to joke that TEPCO funded my theological education.  I had so much free time on that job that I was able to spend four hours a day (sometimes a full 7 hours a day!) studying the Torah five days a week at the office for about a solid three years.  Trust me, this blog wouldn’t exist without that strong Biblical foundation.

I’ll stop here for now, but here are a couple of observations that occurred while doing this exercise.

First, I realized that certain events, while seeming like negative things, in hindsight, turned out to be huge blessings (like the marriage issue).

Indeed, the Lord is a master at taking the lemons in your life and turning them into lemonade!

Second, my gratitude for everything God has done in my life instantly increased.

This strengthens my faith and motivates me to wanna obey Him more.

Finally, it gives me hope for my future.

If God has carried me and taken care of me so far…

Despite all of the ups and downs and crazy roller coaster ride life has been (there were times when I had some damn near panic attacks!)…

Who’s to say He won’t continue to do so in the future?!

Ya feel me?

So, how about you?

Why don’t you take a few minutes and do this exercise?

I betcha you’ll benefit greatly from it…

And you’ll inspire others as well!

Share in the comments!

See ya all next time.

CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

 “Therefore I tell you,
do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink;
or about your body,
what you will wear.
Is not life more than food,
and the body more than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air;
they do not sow
or reap or store away in barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not much more valuable than they?
Can any one of you by worrying
add a single hour to your life?
And why do you worry about clothes?
See how the flowers of the field grow.
They do not labor or spin.
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon
in all his splendor
was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God
clothes the grass of the field,
which is here today and
tomorrow is thrown into the fire,
will he not much more clothe you
—you of little faith?
So do not worry, saying,
‘What shall we eat?’
or ‘What shall we drink?’
or ‘What shall we wear?’
For the gentiles run
after all these things,
and your heavenly Father
knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom
and his righteousness,
and all these things
will be given to you as well.
Therefore do not worry
about tomorrow, for tomorrow
will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.
-Matthew 6:25-34