Hosanna Restoration Church

When plans were first made for a recent trip to Russia, I asked the Lord what we were going to do. He said to expect miracles. “Go and teach the people to expect miracles, and expect miracles as you prepare.” Well, to be honest, that was a bit much for me to comprehend. Fortunately we had some time to let it sink in. I talked with the Lord a lot about it and eventually felt that I better get the process started. We started by telling the local church family what was in the works and asking that prayers be offered as often as possible. I never to take the Word of God lightly, but some words seem to carry a greater weight of responsibility than others.

As time passed I took note that God was in fact doing some things to confirm the word. In fact, just before going my 17-year-old son had two strokes in one week and on that Sunday he danced all the way through the worship time. As we were playing and worshipping, the Lord told me to look at my son. When I opened my eyes and saw him dancing, the Lord said, “that is a beginning of miracles.” It touched my heart so much that I had to force myself to maintain composure and continue leading the worship.

And so we went with confidence prepared to teach and to learn about expecting miracles. You see, it is one thing to believe that God can do miracles, but it is quite another to expect Him to do them. Even though we have all experienced miracles in one form or another in our lives, many of them are not even recognized as miracles. We all know that salvation is the greatest miracle anyone can experience, and yet for many it loses its luster over time. That is why we need to keep that first love and maintain the joy and the wonder of such a great thing that the Lord does for us.

Well, by the time I left for Russia, I was excited to deliver this message to my dear brothers and sisters. A great thing about it was that God of course had prepared them to hear this very word. There were many who had need of miracles and were hoping that God would do something, so the idea of expecting rather than hoping was some meat that needed to be chewed.

There were times when I felt like I understood how Paul did when he was preaching and saw a man who had faith to be healed. I could look in the eyes of some and see the light of expecting miracles turn on and I knew they would not only receive miracles but they would lead others into a deeper understanding of what the Lord has in mind for our lives.

The woman in this scripture had heard about Jesus and she felt that if she could just touch His robe she would be healed. She expected a miracle. Jesus told her that her faith is what healed her. This has challenged me to move beyond hoping God will do something. Hope is okay, but expecting God to act is new level that I am reaching for. I have only comprehended a small part, but God is showing me a little more all the time. If we seek Him, He will show us all. I don’t want to miss even one miracle that God has in store for me and I pray you feel the same way. Expect miracles.