Miracles of Different Sizes

Psalm 77:14
"You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples."

It's kind of strange to think about miracles of different sizes, because a miracle is something that could not have happened without Divine intervention. How can it be more miraculous than God intervening in a situation? But give me a few minutes to explain.

We have big news from KU Med Center! Tammy was released from ICU today! She was feeling well enough this morning for me to go to church. I really wanted to be there, and she encouraged me to go. After church, I stopped by the house to exchange dirty clothes for clean ones. I couldn't stand not knowing how she was doing, so I called the ICU nurses' station. Jared, a wonderful young nurse, answered and told me that the doctors were confident enough in her condition to release her to the BMT unit once again. Her oxygen requirement had diminished and her lungs were clearing up.

David Lee chastised me for being amazed. He reminded me that Tammy is a strong woman, and even more, that God is in control. We prayed for her to be released soon. Why are we surprised when He answers our prayers the way we want? We know that His will is preiminent, but sometimes He uses our feeble faith to glorify Himself when He answers our prayers in the way we ask. We thank you for lifting her up.

She's certainly not out of the woods. The pneumonia is still there, even though it's getting better. And she's still four days away from the lowest point on the post-transplant scale. Her blood counts will be near zero this Thursday, and she'll feel pretty bad. But it is such a relief to have her back on this floor. Her care in ICU was nothing short of phenomenal, but it's good to be "home" in the bone-marrow transplant unit.

But that's not the big miracle we celebrate today. The sermon today reminded us that the biggest miracle we received today is forgiveness. Tammy is the perfect wife for me, the perfect mom for David and Julie, the perfect daughter for Lynn and Carleen, the perfect sister for Mike and Jim, and the perfect friend for hundreds of people around the country. But she's not perfect. (We're not even going to talk about me.) She sins and falls short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

But through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, her sins are forgiven, my sins are forgiven, your sins are forgiven. We often quote Ephesians 3:20-21 to talk about what God can do for us in this life. ("Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.") When we ask God to save us from a situation in which we're uncomfortable, He provides so much more. He saves us from the minutae of this life, but He also saves us into a permanent, eternal relationship with Him.

Talk about a miracle!