(Jesus) said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

(The following account is current, true and accurate: ‘06. The names have been changed and the cause omitted, however, for privacy sake.)

*Ding dong* *Ding dong* *Ruff, ruff, ruff*

“Someone’s at the door!” our eldest daughter called. “See who it is,” my wife called back. “It’s Jimmy!” she exclaimed. “I’ll go see what’s going on,” I said. “Daddy, can I go with you?” my young daughter asked. “Sure, let’s go,” I replied, and out the backdoor we went.

“Oh no! I’m in big trouble and I need your help. I don’t know where else to go!” Jimmy said when we met up with him. “Sweetheart, go inside right now,” I said to my little one, “and get your mother.” “It’s Donna! There’s something wrong with her! I don’t know what to do and I’m scared,” Jimmy continued, “Please call 911!” At that moment my wife came running out of the door with my phone in her hand, “What is it?” she asked. “It’s Donna! I don’t know what’s wrong with her,” Jimmy explained again, “Please call 911!”

At that moment my wife saw Donna there, unconscious, in Jimmy’s car, opened the door, and started calling out to her. “911 Operator. What’s your emergency?” the voice on the other line inquired. “Yes, I need an ambulance!” I said. “What’s your emergency?” the operator responded. “There’s a lady in my driveway that is unconscious and is breathing sporadically,” I explained, as my wife began monitoring Donna’s pulse. “Help is on the way,” I was assured.

“I am so scared,” Jimmy kept repeating, “Where is the ambulance? Please call 911 again!” Donna’s breathing quickly became more and more sporadic over the next few seconds. “911 Operator. What’s your emergency?” asked the familiar voice. “I just called a few minutes ago and the woman’s breathing is getting more and more sporadic. We need an ambulance right away!” I answered back. “Help is on the way. They should be there momentarily,” I was again assured.

“Babe, she’s not breathing!” I whispered to my wife. “There’s no pulse; I can’t find a pulse...is there something wrong with my fingers?” my wife responded as she moved her fingers back and forth from Donna’s neck to her wrists. “Let’s pray,” I said as I reached over and joined my wife in lying hands on her, “Father, in the Name of Jesus we pray, please touch Donna right now, Lord, and heal her.” At that moment, Donna took a deep breath as wife exclaimed, “Her pulse! I can feel her pulse!” A moment later the ambulance arrived and the paramedics rushed over to Donna, who by that time was conscious.

A few days later….

“Dad, Mom needs you inside,” my oldest son called out as he came running out the door, “the dog is lying on the floor shivering!” “Stay out here and keep and eye on things,” I said, as I went running into the house. “I don’t know what is wrong with him,” my wife explained when I arrived to where she was holding our dog. “Let’s pray for him,” I said, “Jesus, please touch our dog and heal him, Lord.”

As we waited a moment or two for our dog to suddenly get better at the Lord’s answer to our prayer, my wife said, “He’s not getting any better and he feels like he has a fever; I think we should call a veterinarian.” Assuming that the problem was the sudden worsening of a minor ear infection that we had prayed about before, I agreed with my wife that we should call the vet.

“Yes, my dog is on the shivering uncontrollably,” I explained to one receptionist after another. “Sorry, we are closed but you should have him looked at right away,” was the response each time. “You should probably take him to the emergency clinic,” one urged, “Do you have the number?”

“Animal emergency clinic,” said the gruff voice that answered the phone. After I explained the situation and asked if I could bring in our dog, the man explained, “It’s probably a broken back. Ever been here before?” “No,” I answered. “First time visit is $60, X-rays are $135, and there will be additional costs. All needs to be paid in full at time of treatment. Do you still want to bring him in?” “Well, what other options do I have? Of course I want to bring him in!” I said in disbelief at the obvious lack of compassion. “We take Visa and Master Card, see you in 45 minutes,” was the last word before our conversation came to an end.

With the misdiagnosis and the run down of the prices by the man at the animal clinic still fresh in my mind, I reminded my wife before she left to take our dog in that we knew what was the matter with him and there was no need for additional expenses or a bunch of needless, and expensive, tests. So, we put our dog in our car and she and our oldest son took him to the animal emergency clinic.

“Hello?” I answered in an anxious voice at the sight that my wife was calling. “Babe, it’s his ear; to do what needs to be done will be $187.00. What do I do?” she asked. “Get it done! Don’t worry, just let them take care of the dog,” I responded just as she knew I would. Ten minutes later, my son called and announced that they were on their way home and that the dog was doing much better.

Now, the Lord has healed our dog so many times before that, to be honest, when He didn’t reach down and touch him right then and there, it was sort of surprising. You see, our dog is a diabetic and whenever one of our children drops a piece of food on the floor that he finds and eats, he has a seizure. Each time one of these seizures begins, we immediately place our hands on him and pray and the Lord touches him right then and there: the seizure ends immediately. We have prayed, of course, that he would not have any more seizures, but from time to time he still does. We know firsthand what a seizure can to do a dog’s neurological system, so it is no small thing for us when the Lord does heal him.

I would think that everyone who has a Bible and believes in the Lord Jesus has read all the things that Jesus said concerning the fact that miracles would be one result of their faith. With this, I am sure that, though this is what Jesus said, it just doesn’t seem to be the case as often as one would suspect it should. Now, this thought, the feelings that accompany it, and the doubt, worry, or anger, that usually follows is nothing new, and for anyone who is traveling down this path right now you should know that you have plenty of company and that you are not alone.

The fact is much of that path has been worn by the soles of my own shoes, so you are not going to be judged by this guy. Many times the Lord has healed my wife, our children, and I of aliments but we’ve been to the doctor’s office before as well. Just look at the two accounts mentioned earlier. Though there is no comparison between a human and an animal, but since the Lord had just raised a woman from the dead a few days earlier, wouldn’t it stand to reason that He would surely heal our dog of a silly infection? I mean, as a human being, you would view one as a much greater miracle than the other, wouldn’t you?

In all honesty, there are no such things as “great” miracles or “small” miracles; the definition of a miracle, after all, is “God did it.” And in all reality, that is the only real definition. So, to view “miracles” based upon themselves, or in and of themselves, is to place the focus in the wrong place. Though my family and I have seen the Lord do many things in our lives, many, many miracles (more than we can count and more than most would believe), the focus for us, even when He raised Donna up so wondrously, is the One Who does them and not the things we are so thankful for themselves.

At the same time, however, when He does not grant our request, the same does not always hold true because, just like everyone else, sometimes, our focus is on that thing that we really feel needs to be taken care of by the Lord and not on the Lord Himself: trusting Him with the reasons why He allows this thing to go on. Our dog’s seizures is an example of this and we have many more. The thing is, once it does not seem that God is taking care of an issue, especially the extremely urgent ones, these things take on a whole new meaning of “urgency” for us because it seems as though we are left to deal with them for ourselves. In the end, although the Lord God had just raised a woman from the dead in my driveway, I am still feeling kind of anxious about other things, even lesser things, which remain unresolved.

Now, I have mentioned several times here on this website that I am only human so none of this should come as a complete and total shock to anyone. More than this even, me, and those like me (probably just about everyone reading this) are in good company; in 2 Corinthians 7:5 the Apostle Paul writes, “…when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within.” That’s right, even that great man of God, the Apostle Paul, faced conflicts and knew what it was to fear circumstance. So I am not ashamed to admit that, though I have seen God do what would be called “wondrous miracles,” and many of them, I still worry about the things that He hasn’t seemed to resolve.

The answer for me is the same answer for any of you who are going through things in your life that you have prayed about, trusted the Lord with, and there seems to be no end of and that is the faith, the realization, that God is not a God Who simply involves Himself in situations; He is a God Who involves Himself in lives. In fact, He gives true life and once a person has become born again, they are a child of His and He cares for them thusly. It is the belief of this writer that even before one is born again, God knows who are His and He cares for them as His children before they know enough to realize it. Either way, God loves His children and His focus is on them, as His children, and not merely the circumstances surrounding them.

I would suppose the reasons that the Lord God leaves some things “as is” in our lives are as plentiful as the things themselves: sometimes He leaves them there to build our faith, so that when He does answer our prayers we will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is the One that did it; sometimes He allows them to remain to help us grow in Him and mature; other times He forcing us to do something, take action, leave where we are, and go someplace else; others He is disciplining us due to our own behavior; sometimes He is providing comfort to us so that we will have compassion for others; still others He leaves “as is” simply because we do not have the faith that He will do anything about it.

The list goes on and on. Though the reason why God is allowing “that thing” or “things” in our lives to continue is indeed important, the most important thing is that He loves us and that “…we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose,” Romans 8:28. And for what reason? “To be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers,” Romans 8:29b. In the end, when He answers our prayers the way we would like, wondrously and miraculously, these have the same purpose as those He does not seem to answer at all: to conform us to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Yes, indeed, the Lord surely did perform an unbelievable miracle right in our driveway a few days ago, but then again, my wife and my focus is on the Lord Himself and not what He did; our main concern and joy was for the woman that He had raised up. To be the same way with the things that He seemingly leaves “as is” (focused on Him and not on whatever it is) is mark of maturity in a Christian’s life and a necessity in being conformed to the likeness of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ, His Son. As for me there is nothing that I desire more than this; I am confident that same holds true for you.

K. Allen Cox