Even though I am a very observant person who pays attention to the smallest details, there are times when I let events go unnoticed.
When it seems like we’ve been stagnant for a long time and that our life is stuck in the same place, it means we need to pay more attention to something. There may be miracles that are not receiving due attention.
Grains that become beaches
“Go and look toward the sea,’ he told his servant. And he went up and looked. ‘There is nothing there,’ he said. Seven times Elijah said, ‘Go back.”
1 Kings 18:43-45
Guimarães Rosa, a Brazilian poet, one day wrote a sentence that really impacted me: “When nothing happens, there is a miracle that we are not seeing.”
If for a year you’ve felt like your life is going nowhere, you’re definitely not paying attention to small miracles every day.
God is always doing. On some days something big, which easily captures our attention, and on other days small grains of sand that gradually fill in and form a large beach.
Small miracles deserve our attention and gratitude. God doesn’t just do what you can see from miles away. But also things that easily fit in the palm of your hand.
And both can change an entire life.
A small advertisement
“The seventh time the servant reported, ‘A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea’. So Elijah said, ‘Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.”
1 Kings 18:44
In the book of 1 Kings it tells the story of the great drought that the people went through. When God sends confirmation to Elijah that rain will finally come, Elijah asks his servant to look towards the sea to see if the rain was coming, and 6 times he returns informing the prophet that nothing was happening in that direction.
On the 7th time, the servant returns saying that there was a cloud in the sky, showing how small it was, just like a man’s hand.
But it was that small cloud that announced the arrival of a big rain, which would end the entire drought. A cloud, which was so small the servant did not consider, was responsible for bringing to the people the promise of a new time, the end of drought.
Subtle miracles
“Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”
1 Kings 19:11,12
Many times God will not be in the fire and strong winds. Try looking for Him in the gentle breeze too.
There are miracles that arrive, attracting attention, and others that come silently and are only noticed when we keep our eyes fixed on God.
Don’t belittle the smaller clouds, which would perhaps change your life, waiting for the sky to darken to finally start trusting. God awaits your faith and movement from the little cloud.
Elijah believed and had faith from the first cloud, which was the size of a man’s hand. And only after that, while they were preparing for the rain, other clouds arrived and brought the waters.
Notice the small and daily movements of God. Those that bring thunder and lightning, but also those that arrive like a gentle breeze.
