October 12, 2021
God doesn’t always do loud and miraculous answers to a prayer. And what I mean by ‘loud and miraculous’ is that the miracle is so prominent and at the perfect timing, that even a carnal person or unbeliever might count it as a miracle. These miracles include a sudden healing, unexplained gift of money, teleporting, etc.
Although I know God can do, and has done loud miracles in our lives, the loud miracles might not happen as often. Most times God’s miracles are quiet and subtle, and if you’re not paying attention, you might miss it.
God is not insecure that He needs to make everything obvious to everyone. He is OK with it only being obvious to you, and unnoticed by others.
Loud or quiet, seen or unseen, His miracles are always amazing no matter how big or small.
Just to be clear, following God is not about seeing miracles. That’s not the goal at all. Rather, it’s about seeking to know Him and being near Him because He is Almighty God and a Good Father.
Throughout my walk with God, the scripture that says “anyone who does not have faith, cannot please God” deeply stuck in my heart, and I decided early on that whatever His Word says, I’m going to believe it with my whole heart. I do not dare want to be unpleasing to Him because of my lack of faith. At this time, I didn’t know much about the Bible. I just knew that I needed Jesus after the sinful life I’ve lived. I thought to have faith was a simple thing, and if there was anything I could get right, it would be to have faith.
In my attempt to believe and trust every Word of God, I’ve found that having true and real faith isn’t as easy as the world makes it out to be. It’s quite challenging. I realized that if I truly believe God’s Word and how He tells me to live, then I would do it.
Real faith provokes action.
And as you start living out the Word and putting it practice into your life, it starts to change and challenge everything. The Word of God and the spirit of God starts transforming you by the grace of God. And its a miracle! Its a quiet-miracle in the heart of a believer, that no one can really see unless you deeply look.
Furthermore, we see God’s miracle work in our life because of our daily obedience to Him. We are obedient to Him with where we spend our time, the convictions that we share with people or the opinions we don’t share (Psalm 141:3), our relationships, our work, our living and moving and having our being (Acts 17:28). He’s always doing a miraculous and quiet-miracle-work, as we live the practical-everyday-life.
We try to be obedient to the word in every area of our lives out of love for Him and desire of nearness to Him. By applying the Word of God practically to your life, it opens the door to hearing God’s voice in the areas of your life where you are practicing obedience.
Examples of Practical Obedience to The Word of God
Small Acts of Obedience
When I first started seeking God, there was another woman that my friends and I disliked very much. We unashamedly gossiped and laughed behind her back. When I came to Christ, I was deeply convicted in my heart; and in reading God’s Word, I knew for a fact God’s heart on my malicious behavior. I knew these sins needed to stop. I needed to love someone who felt like such an enemy to me (Matthew 5:43-48). I had to do more than understand how the scripture applied to my life, but I had to live it out practically in my life.
I changed my ways from gossiping and laughing to remaining quiet and unreceptive to the jokes. I had to change my ways from ignoring her, to helping and conversing with her. It was hard on my flesh and many times I felt like the odd-ball out from my friends, but I strived to make the effort, and by God’s grace I did it.
And you know what?
God miraculously, while mid-conversation with her, demonstrated how pleased He was in my efforts. As we talked about a-whole-lot-of-nothing, sudden tears flowed to my eyes and a deep warmth flooded my heart. Thankfully, there were three of us in conversation, so her attention wasn’t on me the whole time! I had to look away to compose myself for a second, before I could look into her eyes again.
After the conversation ended, I couldn’t help but take a moment to just stop and ask, “what was that? Why was I tearing-up”. As I pondered on this, there was no scripture that came to mind to explain it in words. However, there was this confident-knowing in my heart, that it was God who allowed me to so deeply feel the overflowing joy of the Holy Spirit, so infinitely that joyful tears welled up in my eyes. And from there I knew — He was deeply pleased with my daily efforts to love my enemy, whom I no longer considered my enemy.
I’m not sure if her view ever changed of me — I hope so — but that doesn’t really matter. I was doing my part in loving a woman who was hard to love, and God was pleased with my daily and practical obedience to the Word. And that meant everything to me.
This is a smaller act of obedience I did in faith, regardless of feeling like the odd-ball-out from my friends.
And of course there are also…
Bigger Acts of Practical Obedience
Matthew 6:33 reads, Seek His kingdom first and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. This has been a scripture God reminded us of, in almost every major life-change, thus far — in our moves across the country, in finding new work/employment, in searching for a tiny home, and now even in finding new home (NOT on wheels might I add!).
A new chapter awaits for us in a new house that we were led to, by practically walking out new scriptures that God set in our hearts.
During a unique situation that we were experiencing in our tiny house, for the first time living there, I felt that our house was too small. In prayer, with a burden on my heart I even expressed to God, “this house is too small!”.
I didn’t ask to move, but I was giving God my burdens, because I know He cares to hear it (1 Peter 5:7).
Right after praying, I “mistakenly” started reading the “wrong” chapter in Isaiah, where I ended up reading Isaiah 49:20, which says ‘This place is too small…give us more space to live in’. 
After being dumbfounded by God and the timing of reading this scripture, I realized that I was actually reading the “wrong chapter”. The correct chapter I should have been reading was Isaiah 54, because that’s actually where I left off in my study.
So, very shortly after reading Isaiah 49:20, I was led to Isaiah 54:2, which says “expand the place of your tent”. Once again, I was dumbfounded. The two scriptures that I read almost back-to-back, was impossible for me to just pair together. I was also in awe of the timing of our unique situation in our tiny house, which made us feel very crammed, with no privacy.
It slipped my mind to tell Jared about this moment. But after he had his moment with God telling him the exact same thing, in God’s unique way of telling him; I was pleasantly reminded of what I read.
We were synced up and we knew this direction was God’s speaking voice in our lives.
So, once again, in our most recent move of finding an actual house, we had to physically and practically take steps to move, in order to put these scriptures into practice.
With the housing market being as crazy as its been, it honestly didn’t make any sense to look for a house at this current time. But we knew what God called us to do, so we took a practical steps of faith and found a real estate agent.
We were in the process of looking for a house for almost a full year.
We prayed about when and where; traveled near and far in our search; had a tweak of redirection; we put a bid on a house that we did not win. And then we put a bid on another house, which we did win!
Clearly I’m not sharing all the moving details! There are other divine and quiet ways which God spoke to us, guided us, and encouraged us.
But my point is, that once again, God led us very practically in saying to us through scripture and though our unique situation, “hey guys, your house is too small, you should probably get a bigger one.” A carnal Christian or unbeliever might say, that there was not any loud miracles, like a voice from heaven; and what I read in my bible must just be a coincidence.
They’d probably say the same thing about all four of our moves because He mostly worked in the same-quiet-miraculous-way, with a loud miracle here-and-there (loud to us anyways!).
God at times showed us to wait, and sometimes He said nothing at all. Until finally we found the specific one, and God mysteriously makes it known, this is the promised land.
Of course we know that God is our ultimate Promised Land, but for us and our story, it’s been a literal thing too.
But anyways…
By our experience, what have we learned about God's miracles?
Well, most of the time it’s about taking practical steps in faith in obedience to Him. As we follow His commands and use the wisdom of God to make a decision in faith, He leads us in our practical-everyday-life. He’ll then honor that practical step you take, by blessing you in some way. That blessing may come in the form of giving you more guidance ‘from His loving eye’ (Psalm 32:8); or a blessing in the form a confirmation to give you confidence that you are on the right path, and to just keep doing what you’re doing; or that you’re taking the wrong path, and you should continue to wait on Him or do something different. Or sometimes His answer is just ”no“.
It’s hard to hear “wait” or “no” because we don’t want to believe this can possibly be the answer. We think that we know best and expect a different response. In these types of hard answers, we have to remind ourselves that His voice in our lives is a blessing and miracle in itself! When we remember this, it enables us to find joy in the answers we’d hoped would be different.
As we stepped into each instruction of God — go forward, no, or wait — sometimes we end up getting a glimpse of the miracle of God’s Providence in our life.
In all our moves, it’s exciting to see some of the mysterious ways He’s worked behind the scenes and even more exciting to discover the fruits of our obedience. Sometimes that’s a physical thing or sometimes it’s a heart thing.
In practical ways we experience our faith, by persevering in obedience to following His commands of His personal will for our lives and reveled will in scripture. Although it has felt very hard on our flesh and carnal way of thinking, persevering in obedience has all been worthwhile. It has become something we can glory in because it has done a work in us and has brought more matureness in our walks with God, more trust, more thankfulness, more wisdom and knowledge of Him (James 1:2-4). As we have endured in practical obedience, He didn’t just ‘expand the place of our tent’, but He also continues to expand the fruits of the Spirit in our hearts and lives.
Our sanctification is certainly the greatest miracle of them all!
Real faith provokes action
I had to do more than understand how scripture applied to my life, but I had to live it out practically in my life.
Scriptures
James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.Psalm 37:23
The steps of a man are ordered by the LORD who takes delight in his journey.Proverbs 19:21
Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.Proverbs 16:9
A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
Navigate
Kristin,
Thank you so much for sharing your story about how God guides in small and big things.
Un abrazo,
Allie
Thank you sister in Christ for this encouraging entry you made on how God is a practical God in every small detail in our lives.
I am seeking to learn also to practically obey God’s written commands in His word which has sometimes been difficult for me along the way because I need to move away from just storing it in my ‘mind’ only. This is a good reminder for me to ask Father to help me put His word into practice in my life, even in the small things I do everyday which perhaps I might have missed the fruits of the Holy Spirit being produce in those moments.
Moreover, I am learning over and over again to not look to my circumstances for anything favourable thing to happen that can bring relief to my waiting, weary heart but just to practice in delighting God and His goodness.
I’ve recently listened to Derek Prince’s talks about how we need to seek God’s guidance in His physical Word, the Bible, first with the help of the Holy Spirit before we can move into being directed by His special guidance. I’ve realised for awhile now and I think that God is telling me that I focused too much on how He will guide me in extraordinary ways instead of looking into His Word first and letting Him point to me what I should obey. This is what I see in your life is that we practically obey God by reading His Word wholeheartedly and then He will guide as He please in extraordinary ways.
Perhaps that is what God’s will in my life is at this moment: is to read His word perseveringly, put them into practice diligently, let Him guide me however He pleases (not how I think He will guide me) and delight in Him in whatever answers He gives to me regarding my prayers or requests to Him.
As Charles Spurgeon would say is to delight in the Lord Himself and not to think upon His gifts distractingly. His blessings should be secondary in our life but putting the Lord first is our primary goal which I needed to discipline my heart and mind on this by God’s grace.
God’s grace be with you
This blessed me because I just randomly listened to a Derek Prince message yesterday for a friend about how God is your matchmaker and he said something similar to what you said about how we should be intentionally applying God’s revealed will and word to our lives before expecting Him to reveal more specific personal direction. Your comment was just confirmation for me to get back to really digging into the word and trusting God as a child to help me to intentionally apply His word to my daily life. Simple faith and obedience. Thank you. I also really enjoyed your article and update Kristen! God bless you and your husband as you continue to follow where the Lord leads you!
Yes! I love everything you said, especially the second half. Be faithful in the small things. He sees you! And in that faithfulness He will begin to guide you specifically. Or sometimes I might not ever see specific guidance at first, but then once I have taken a small step in faith, God will bless me in some small way to let me know He sees me in the steps that I’m taking. I take that as a confirmation and big encouragement that He is pleased, and I just keep doing what I’m doing, unless I feel a nudge otherwise.