Wherefore, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven, and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men?
For he hath answered the ends of the law, and he claimeth all those who have faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing; wherefore he advocateth the cause of the children of men; and he dwelleth eternally in the heavens.
And because he hath done this, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men.
— Moroni 7:27-29
Jesus Christ is a God of miracles. When we read the scriptures we are given account after account of the miracles that He has performed. Some of these miracles, like healing the sick or feeding the multitudes or raising the dead were large and impressive. Other miracles that we read about are decidedly smaller and more personal. All of them were significant to the people who received the miracles.
Throughout our lives and especially in times of trouble we can find ourselves humbly searching for the Lord’s help. Even in the flow of everyday life, we can find ourselves in need of miracles. As move through the tasks and functions of our daily life it is often easy to feel like the Lord is holding back miracles we feel we need. So, how do we see more miracles in our personal, everyday lives?
There are several things we can each individually do to enable us to see more miracles in our lives. This post will talk about three of the things that each and every one of us can do, today, to start seeing more miracles: being willing, having faith, and choosing to see.
You Must Be Willing
It has been said that this church does not necessarily attract great people but more often makes ordinary people great. Many nameless people with gifts equal only to five loaves and two small fishes magnify their callings and serve without attention or recognition, feeding literally thousands.
— James E. Faust, Five Loaves and Two Fishes
The miracle of the loaves and fishes is one of the most cited miracles in the New Testament. The account is simple, Jesus was teaching a multitude of people and it came time for the people to eat. Jesus’ disciples said that the multitude should go and buy food, but Jesus said they did not need to go and commanded the disciples to give them food to eat. The only problem with this, was that the disciples only had five loaves of bread and two fishes.
How could the disciples possibly feed thousands of people with such a meager amount of food? Jesus blessed the disciples offering gave it to his disciples to give to the multitude.
The multitude ate and when they were done they still had 12 basket fulls of food left. And this after feeding over 5000 people.
In a recent Sacrament meeting, one of the sisters in our ward shared some insight into the story of the miracle of the loaves and fishes that helped me understand this miracle in a new way.
Many of us are called on to do great things in this life. In many cases the challenges we are called to face make us feel wholly inadequate. We are asked to serve in callings. We are called on to raise children. We are told to be examples to those around us and to share the gospel.
For many of us, it is common to feel very inadequate when we look at the challenges we are called to face. We can be driven to ask “What can we offer?”. We can feel like all we have is a paltry five loaves and two fishes to feed the multitude.
The thing I learned from this sister is that we don’t have to magnify our efforts. We can’t turn the five loaves and two fishes into enough to feed thousands. The thing we are called on to do is to be willing to offer our talents and effort to the Lord.
When we offer what we can to the Lord, He can perform the miracle that magnifies our efforts. He can turn our five loaves and two fishes into a bountiful feast. He can use our willing offered sacrifice to produce miracles around us that are greater than we can comprehend.
But we must make the offering. We must willingly give him what we can and then know that He can turn our offerings, however small, into something great.
The talent and ability we have to offer may not seem like much, but in the hands of the Master, they can lead to miracles.
You Must Have Trust
It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning. It all works out in the end. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers.
— Gordon B. Hinckley
Another story, from the Book of Mormon, that also recently helped me understand more about miracles is the story of the brother of Jared.
In this story, Jared and his brother were led by the Lord to flee from the Tower of Babel with their families and friends. The Lord led them through the wilderness for years on their way to a choice land. At one point in their journey they came to the sea.
The Lord commanded them to build “barges” that they could use to cross the sea and continue their journey. These barges were not normal ships that one might imagine. We are told in the scriptures that they were “tight like unto a dish” and that they would be “as a whale in the midst of the sea”. If anything these barges were more likely akin to a submarine than a normal ship.
Because the barges would be “as a whale in the midst of the sea”, the Lord instructed that they should be built without windows and that they should be sealed tight like unto a dish. These two requirements caused the brother of Jared to have two primary concerns about the vessels: how would they breathe inside of the vessels and how would they see?
Once Jared and his company finished constructing the vessels, the brother of Jared went to the Lord with these concerns.
And it came to pass that the brother of Jared cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, I have performed the work which thou hast commanded me, and I have made the barges according as thou hast directed me.
And behold, O Lord, in them there is no light; whither shall we steer? And also we shall perish, for in them we cannot breathe, save it is the air which is in them; therefore we shall perish.
— Ether 2:18-19
The thing first thing I was impressed with my this story as I studied it this time was that the brother of Jared finished the vessels as he had been commanded before he went to the Lord to raise his concerns.
Undoubtedly, as the brother of Jared felt these concerns as he was working to build the barges. He could see that there were parts of the instructions he was given that needed to be fixed or that were apparent design flaws. However, he did not let this stop him from following the commandments of the Lord. Instead he did what he as commanded to do and when that was done, the Lord told him how to resolve his concerns.
We too, may often see parts of the instructions we receive from the Lord where we feel there are flaws or inconsistencies. When this happens, do we stop and demand answers or do we move forward with faith and trust that the Lord knows what He is doing?
When we trust in the Lord despite our limited understanding He can do more to perform miracles in our lives.
For the brother of Jared showed his trust in the Lord by completing the commandment to build barges even when he had questions and concerns about the Lord’s instructions. The Lord knew what He needed the brother of Jared to do and the Lord gave him answers about how to fix the issue of not being able to breathe in the barges. He instructed the brother of Jared to cut a hole in the top of the barges that could be opened to let in air, but then stopped up when it was necessary to keep water out.
The Lord did not give the brother of Jared all the answers he sought immediately though, and He told the brother of Jared to find a solution to his question about how to light the vessels.
The brother of Jared went about pondering and searching for an answer to how to light the vessels and he finally came up with an answer: rocks.
You Mush Have Faith
After what was undoubtedly a great deal of soul-searching, the brother of Jared came before the Lord — perhaps hesitantly but not empty-handed. In a clearly apologetic tone, he said, “Now behold, O Lord, and do not be angry with thy servant because of his weakness before thee; … O Lord, look upon me in pity, and turn away thine anger from this thy people, and suffer not that they shall go forth across this raging deep in darkness; but behold these things which I have molten out of the rock,” (Ether 3:2-3)
Things. The brother of Jared hardly know what to call them. Rocks undoubtedly did not sound very inspiring. Here, standing next to the Lord’s magnificent handiwork, the impeccably designed and marvelously unique seagoing barges, the brother of Jared offered for his contribution rocks. As he eyed the sleek ships the Lord had provided, it was a moment of genuine humility.
— Jeffrey R. Holland
The brother of Jared had come up with a plan about how there could be light in the vessels they had built. He made some clear, glass-like rocks by melting down other rocks, and he brought these to the Lord. He had faith that if the Lord would touch the stones with His divine finger, that the stones would glow with light that could be used in the barges as they crossed the sea.
The Lord agreed to touch the stones and because of the brother of Jared’s faith, he saw the the finger of the Lord. The Lord then taught the brother of Jared that because his faith was so strong the Lord could not prevent him from seeing His finger.
When we approach the Lord with faith we too can see miraculous things, but first we have to choose to have faith. Florence Shinn said, “Hope looks forward. Faith knows it has already received and acts accordingly.” When we have faith we do not simply hope that something is true or believe that it can happen, we act as though it is true. Faith truly is a principle of action.
When we let our faith lead us to action, it can become a powerful force in our lives that will allow us to see many more miracles each and every day.
We Must Choose To See
Counting our blessings is far better than recounting our problems. No matter our situation, showing gratitude for our privileges is a fast-acting and long-lasting spiritual prescription.
Does gratitude spare us from sorrow, sadness, grief, and pain? No, but it does soothe our feelings. It provides us with a greater perspective on the very purpose and joy of life.
— Russell M. Nelson
Last week President Russell M. Nelson shared a powerful message with the world about the importance of expressing gratitude.
As we all know, this year has provided everyone with a seemingly endless stream of challenges and trials. During this time, many of us have had significant struggles. Many have lost jobs or had struggles with employment. Many have felt isolated and alone. Many have missed opportunities and had to make significant adjustments to their lives.
These trials have been real and they have been hard. And for many they may have seemed overwhelming. Through all this time, it has been really easy to focus on everything that has been going wrong. However, as President Nelson so wisely counseled, life is much better when we choose to focus on all the things we can be grateful for.
Despite the challenges that have come this year, there are many things I have been very grateful for. I have been grateful for the extra time I’ve had to more deeply connect with my family. I have been grateful for the chance to focus more fully on my personal worship through better scripture study and family gospel discussions. I have been grateful for the opportunity to disconnect from many of the distractions of my normal life and more fully focus on the truly important things. I have been grateful for the chance to gain new insights into what aspects of the Church and our worship are critical and of real value and are not just part of our culture. I have been grateful for a greater sense of the importance of the temple. I have been grateful for these and many, many other things.
When we choose to view our blessings with gratitude, we can begin to see just how active the Lord is our lives. We can start to see the miracles that happen around us every day. These miracles are there but we have to choose to see them.
Conclusion
Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace.
— Ezra Taft Benson
Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know each of us and are playing an active role in each and every one of our lives. When we trust in them and have faith we can more fully gain their help in every aspect of our lives.
When we choose to have gratitude and see the many blessings in our lives, we can start to see the many ways the Lord is leading and guiding our lives. We can start to see many more miracles in our lives, because the miracles are there, we just have to open our eyes to see them. It is my hope that all of us can have this kind of gratitude each and every day.
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