Gina Caswell Kelly
In 1 Samuel 12:7, Samuel tells the people, “Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the LORD as to all the righteous acts performed by the LORD for you and your fathers.”
So the people stood and listened to the evidence. What evidence do you have to show others about what righteous acts the LORD has done for you and your family? Samuel could refer back to Moses and God’s deliverance of His people from captivity and all the marvelous miracles they had seen a long the way? But to what righteous acts of the LORD can you refer?
I had a gentleman tell me one day that God doesn’t do miracles any longer. He said, “He used to part the Red Sea and stuff like that. I haven’t heard of him doing anything like that since the Bible days.” He went on to indicate that he doubted God’s goodness and His love for us, pointing to the evil that He allows in the world. My answer to him was this. When God parted the Red Sea, He was not doing a magic trick with two performances scheduled. It was what the people needed to get to safety. It wasn’t a show of “Watch this! Nothing up my sleeve!” It was more a show of “I am your Father and I will lead you and protect you on to the Promise Land.”
God does what we need in our lives. When I was farming and was in the midst of a huge financial burden, as so many of our farmers feel so often, how much good would it have done for me financially if God had parted the Red Sea? It would be cool and totally awesome, but I would still be where I was, with no answers, no guidance. God comes to us where we are and meets the needs we have as they need to be met.
I have seen God work amazing miracles in my life. Not the kind that would stop the world in its tracks and make people fall on their knees. Rather, the quiet kind of miracle that takes me from where I am to where I need to be. This is not to say He completely delivers me from every burden and every hardship. More times than not, my burdens remain, but with God working for me, I see walls fall down, and opportunities arise, and answers appear, and I am able to breathe another day. And perhaps, most evidently I see my burden is lighter as I share the load with Him.
You ask me what evidence I have? Let me show you my Bible where I have made notes about the goodness of my Father in my life. I will hold that up as evidence. The fact that I walk and live and breathe after some of the tragedies in my life, look at that as evidence of God’s righteous acts.
But don’t look at what has happened to me for proof. Look instead at what has happened in your life for all the evidence you need of the goodness of my LORD. He makes a difference.
