Big Miracles with Small Things

[Setting up the scene for the miraculous story] This weekend was pretty amazing. It was a rare "Summer" day--sunny and warm and perfect. I had wanted to try getting back on my bike this weekend; I hadn't biked at all since I fainted two weeks ago. The bump on my head had been pretty sore and I had still been feeling lightheaded at the beginning of the week. But as of last Wednesday I had been feeling much more normal.

I was pretty sure I'd be okay, but I was glad that Chris said he would go with me. The bike ride went fine. But when I got to my destination I couldn't find the key to my bike lock (usually on my key ring). Then I remembered . . . the day after I had fainted, Chris came to work to get my bike. I had given him my key.

And here is the rest of the story written by Chris:

Emily's u-lock snaps into a holster on the seat tube of her bike. In a moment of early-morning brilliance before I was fully awake, I thought to myself, "I need to give Emily her key back. A good place for it would be IN the lock; that way she'll see it the next time she rides." Then, I forgot about it—COMPLETELY forgot about it.

On our way out on Saturday it must have fallen out somewhere down the bumpy, pothole-laden bikers' hell that is Mission Street... for us, it covers roughly a mile before our turn-off to Valencia Street. Once we returned home that day, and I realized that my once seemingly brilliant idea had backfired in the most tragic fashion, we weighed our options.. The most practical was buying a new lock. The most ridiculous was to walk the mile stretch of road looking for a small, black key against the tar-covered road. Owning up the the fact that it was my fault the key had vanished and considering the fact that I had some free time, I decided it couldn't hurt to spend an hour or so looking for it.

On the walk down the hill I started to think about God's faithfulness, about how He cares for us even in the seemingly insignificant ways like losing a bike key, and I started to pray that He would help me find it. Then, an image flashed into my mind (which I believe came from the Holy Spirit) of our bike ride from that morning: an image of Emily running over something metal. Then, I realized that she hadn't run over anything; it was the key!

That only narrowed down where it could have been to about 3/4 of a mile. So, I prayed as I walked, "God help me find this key. It's impossible by normal standards, but with You all things are possible." And (you can choose to believe this or not), God told me, "Keep walking. Keep walking. Keep walking." Eventually, I found myself in front of Safeway, trying to remember when I passed Emily on our ride since the key would have fallen off before that. Suddenly, I realized that God wasn't saying, "Keep walking," anymore. Then (again, you can choose to believe this or not), He pointed my eyes to the center of the car lane DIRECTLY in front of where I had been standing for the past several minutes... and there was the key.

I can think of endless applications of this story: the parable of the lost coin, proverbs 3:5-6, how God will meet ALL of our needs according to His abundant riches in Christ Jesus, and on, and on, and on. However, what the series of events taught me was that the Holy Spirit IS speaking and directing if we are walking in obedience and faith and trying to listen to Him. I'm starting to believe more and more that the reason I do not see His power in my life is either because of sin (disobedience) or because of a lack of faith or because I simply don't ask (or believe that it's really HIS voice). Scripture, from beginning to end, has a consistent thread of obedience and faith (and probably other things) existing in the lives of His followers. And, if following that thread means that I hear Him as clearly as I did on Saturday and see Him work as miraculously, I cannot fathom a reason to live contrary to it.

Isn't God good? The key to my bike lock is such a small thing. I was amazed that God would care about somthing so small. It's incredible that the Holy Spirit would be with Chris in such a a clear and intimate way about something like a bike key! But He cares so much about us and I believe He wanted us to know that. And I wanted to share it with you!

[Setting up the scene for the miraculous story] This weekend was pretty amazing. It was a rare "Summer" day--sunny and warm and perfect. I had wanted to try getting back on my bike this weekend; I hadn't biked at all since I fainted two weeks ago. The bump on my head had been pretty sore and I had still been feeling lightheaded at the beginning of the week. But as of last Wednesday I had been feeling much more normal.

I was pretty sure I'd be okay, but I was glad that Chris said he would go with me. The bike ride went fine. But when I got to my destination I couldn't find the key to my bike lock (usually on my key ring). Then I remembered . . . the day after I had fainted, Chris came to work to get my bike. I had given him my key.

And here is the rest of the story written by Chris:

Emily's u-lock snaps into a holster on the seat tube of her bike. In a moment of early-morning brilliance before I was fully awake, I thought to myself, "I need to give Emily her key back. A good place for it would be IN the lock; that way she'll see it the next time she rides." Then, I forgot about it—COMPLETELY forgot about it.

On our way out on Saturday it must have fallen out somewhere down the bumpy, pothole-laden bikers' hell that is Mission Street... for us, it covers roughly a mile before our turn-off to Valencia Street. Once we returned home that day, and I realized that my once seemingly brilliant idea had backfired in the most tragic fashion, we weighed our options.. The most practical was buying a new lock. The most ridiculous was to walk the mile stretch of road looking for a small, black key against the tar-covered road. Owning up the the fact that it was my fault the key had vanished and considering the fact that I had some free time, I decided it couldn't hurt to spend an hour or so looking for it.

On the walk down the hill I started to think about God's faithfulness, about how He cares for us even in the seemingly insignificant ways like losing a bike key, and I started to pray that He would help me find it. Then, an image flashed into my mind (which I believe came from the Holy Spirit) of our bike ride from that morning: an image of Emily running over something metal. Then, I realized that she hadn't run over anything; it was the key!

That only narrowed down where it could have been to about 3/4 of a mile. So, I prayed as I walked, "God help me find this key. It's impossible by normal standards, but with You all things are possible." And (you can choose to believe this or not), God told me, "Keep walking. Keep walking. Keep walking." Eventually, I found myself in front of Safeway, trying to remember when I passed Emily on our ride since the key would have fallen off before that. Suddenly, I realized that God wasn't saying, "Keep walking," anymore. Then (again, you can choose to believe this or not), He pointed my eyes to the center of the car lane DIRECTLY in front of where I had been standing for the past several minutes... and there was the key.

I can think of endless applications of this story: the parable of the lost coin, proverbs 3:5-6, how God will meet ALL of our needs according to His abundant riches in Christ Jesus, and on, and on, and on. However, what the series of events taught me was that the Holy Spirit IS speaking and directing if we are walking in obedience and faith and trying to listen to Him. I'm starting to believe more and more that the reason I do not see His power in my life is either because of sin (disobedience) or because of a lack of faith or because I simply don't ask (or believe that it's really HIS voice). Scripture, from beginning to end, has a consistent thread of obedience and faith (and probably other things) existing in the lives of His followers. And, if following that thread means that I hear Him as clearly as I did on Saturday and see Him work as miraculously, I cannot fathom a reason to live contrary to it.

Isn't God good? The key to my bike lock is such a small thing. I was amazed that God would care about somthing so small. It's incredible that the Holy Spirit would be with Chris in such a a clear and intimate way about something like a bike key! But He cares so much about us and I believe He wanted us to know that. And I wanted to share it with you!