We tend to think of miracles as big magical and instantaneous, transforming something broken into something fixed. We read over and over in the Bible how even reaching out and touching Jesus’ clothes, a person could be healed. Throughout this week the Lord taught me about miracles. Not the stereotypical miracles we would normally think of. He taught me about invisible miracles, the miracles that I would argue are just as magical. And he taught me about faith even when we don’t see the big miracles.
One of the heaviest thing about ministry in Nicaragua is the number of people who need healing. Whether they are sick, injured, or dying, every person I have come across asks us to pray for healing. I grew up reading about all of Jesus’ amazing healings and then also hearing about people who go out on mission, pray for healing and see physical healing from the power of God. As I prepared for my World Race, I imagined I would likely be dealing with people who needed healing. I figured I would come home with a crazy story about how God provided this crazy healing and it would be the coolest thing ever. When we arrived in Nicaragua and started our ministry doing prayer walks and visiting the hospital, I realized how deep the need was for healing. I prayed and prayed and prayed for God to show His mighty power and heal these people. Over the first two weeks of ministry and probably hundreds of people we have prayed for, we have yet to see an instant healing.
I really struggled with this. I thought, why would God not want to heal these people? They clearly need it, wouldn’t it show how good our God is? During my mornings with God I asked that he would bring healing and that we would see a miracle. Then God started revealing things to me.
To backtrack a little bit, I talked about prayer walks in my last blog (From Airport Floors to Nicaraguan Shores). During our prayer walks we visit homes- chatting, bringing encouragement, and praying. At first, we were tasked with preparing a message or a piece of our own testimony to encourage them. This got really difficult as each home had a different need and I wanted it to feel personable to what they were going through and what they needed to hear. So, I stopped being prepared and I asked that God would take over and give me a word, that His words would speak through me. I trusted that the Holy Spirit would just do its thing, and yeah, God did His thing!
Me and a few others were on a prayer walk and visited a blind women with various other health issues. Instantly I was reminded about the story in Luke 18:35-43. This is where Jesus heals a blind beggar. I was so worried about reading this to her because I didn’t want to place false hope that the Lord would heal her blindness, when maybe that might not be His plan. As I reread the story before sharing it with her, I read the part where Jesus says, “Receive your sight, your faith has healed you”. Your faith. That’s when God gave me the word.
I was reminded about times in my life where I needed healing and didn’t recognize it. I struggled with depression for quite some time, during that time I didn’t truly have any faith. I didn’t love God, I just checked the box that I accepted Jesus into my heart so that I could have the reward of going to heaven. I guess in other words, I loved God for the reward, not because He is simply worthy of our praise. When I finally made that choice to let God take control of my life, when I jumped all the way in, when I finally had faith, I was healed. The Lord literally broke the chains of depression I had been dragging for so long. God revealed to me that His miracles are not just physical but also mental and spiritual.
I shared with the blind women the story then shared with her that God wants nothing but to heal her and when you put your full faith in Him, he will heal you. He may not heal your blindness but he can heal your brokenness, you heart, and so many other things. Just as faith is a journey, so is healing. I 100% believe that the Lord will do those magical and physical healings but I also believe that he knows the whole picture. I encouraged her to keep praying for healing in her vision and we prayed for healing in her vision, because there is no doubt that He can’t do that.
God revealed to me the invisible miracles he’s doing but, it still left me pondering why he wouldn’t show us “one of those” miracles. In my mind a miracle would be the best way to bring people to Jesus because then his power is tangible, people would see that someone was healed and the word of that healing would spread like a wildfire, bringing many to want to know Christ. I went back and read that story again, just to flip to the previous chapter. Luke 17: 11-19. In this story, Jesus heals ten men who had leprosy. One very important note in this story is that only one of the ten who had been healed came back to praise and worship Jesus for what he had done. Only one. God knows the whole picture. Even if he performed a very tangible miracle, it might not spread like a wildfire.
During our three day fast, our ministry host shared with me a scene in The Chosen, season three, that perfectly displays why God might choose to not heal. Little James is seeing Jesus heal so many people and knows that the Lord gave him and other followers, authority to have that power to heal people, (the same power God gives us in the Great Commission). He questions Jesus and asks, “why haven’t you healed me?”. Jesus essentially asks him, isn’t it enough that you have seen my power and you have been given that authority, to have faith and trust in me? Isn’t it enough to trust God because we know who he is? I think that sometimes God wants us to have faith in trusting that He has a plan for people and leave it in His hands. Sometimes God gives people the opportunity to see a healing so that they can share that with others to encourage them. Sometimes God heals people because they need to see to have faith. Jesus wanted little James to have faith in Him without being healed to be a light to others who haven’t been healed. He trusted little James to have enough faith to not heal him.
Throughout this crazy week of ministry and fasting, God has taught me about miracles in new ways. 1) God performs so many invisible miracles, these are the miracles that aren’t physical, the ones where he heals our hearts. 2) God sees the bigger picture, sometimes we think that a miracle would be the best way to bring people to Jesus, but only God knows how the wildfire will spread. 3) God trusts us to have faith in who he is sometimes without seeing what he does.
With all this being said, our God is so powerful! I have heard, read, and fully believe in the miracles he has done. Maybe I will come home from the race with some crazy miracle that God performed so that I can encourage others and people will see who he is. And, I really hope I do, wouldn’t that be so cool! I think that God showed me his power in a way I wouldn’t have known if there was a miracle right off the bat. Praise God for that!
We have a lot going on this next week with farm work, beauty for ashes events, prayer walks, dump ministry, micro churches, and so much more. Please be praying for God to continually work through us and pray for miracles, the big ones and invisible ones! Thank you so much for your prayers and support, it means the world! Can’t wait to see what God’s going to do next!
So much love, Maddy!
Instagram to see photos from this week, @maddyxwr
Venmo to give @maddymclaren
