Recently the topic of seeing God’s hands in our lives has been on my mind. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found it easy to forget the times that I needed the Lord’s help, asked for it, and received it, sometimes in dramatic fashion. Forgetting the Lord’s answers to prayers strikes me as huge disservice to his miracles on my behalf. With that in mind, allow me to share a few important miracles that have happened to me.
Once on my mission, while serving in Algeciras, Spain, I found myself without money to buy food for a period of about two weeks before the next monthly living stipend would arrive in my account. The reason for being short on money was that some travel expenses had occurred that were unexpected and the expenses drained all the funds that I and my missionary companion had in our accounts. Not knowing what to do, we prayed, and were mindful of our situation. Amazingly, in the very week when we needed food, a Catholic priest randomly stopped us in the streets. He regularly received food donations for the facility that he oversaw where he housed elderly and disabled people. He had more food than he needed, so he asked us to come to his place where he overwhelmed us with a great gift of food. This food allowed us to make it through the month without needing additional money. An experience like this had never happened to me before, and it has never happened since then, and what I take from this is a recognition that the Lord is aware of us and our needs.
On another occasion, I was returning home from my first year of college, on the road between Utah and California. Somehow, I had lost track of how much gas I had, and I ran out. I was driving a motorcycle and headed downhill. Therefore, I coasted a couple of miles in neutral until I arrived at a deserted offramp. The road from the offramp led off into a direction that was essentially barren land. I said a prayer, and started to push my heavy motorcycle down the deserted road. Within five minutes, a gas truck stopped, and the driver asked how he could help. He said he was a motorcycle rider himself and was glad to help another rider. He gave me a gallon of gas, accepting nothing for payment in return. I knew that God had heard my prayer.
On yet another occasion, when I was still 17 years old, I was driving on my motorcycle to visit a friend in Redmond, Washington. I had never been there before, but I knew the street name. This was before the era of GPS guidance and cell phones. I asked the Lord to guide me where I should go. After just a single wrong turn while in the city (one that took me out of town), I listened to the promptings that I was feeling and made numerous turns throughout the town. I drove right up to the home, on a random street, in a track of houses, that I was looking for. Again, the Lord guided me.
I don’t see myself as particularly important, and as I share these memories with you, I imagine that you are of more interest to our Heavenly Father than I am. If the Lord is aware of me, then I am even more certain that he is aware of you and your needs, and I encourage you to look for His guidance in your life, and possibly record your own miracles as they occur, so you can have greater faith in Him.
