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By Mervyn Morelock, Lt. Colonel
“There are only two ways to live your life.
One, as if nothing is a miracle.
Two, as if everything is” (Albert Einstein).
Billy Graham writes in Hope for the Troubled Heart, “I have found that people are the same the world over. However, in recent years I find that there is an increasing problem that I would sum up in the word, ‘hopeless’. … People in the most affluent societies are feeling this sense of despair and hopelessness.”
Graham continues, citing cardiologist Dr. McNair Wilson who noted in his autobiography, Doctor’s Progress: “Perhaps the greatest psychological, spiritual and medical need that people have is the need for hope. Hope is the medicine I use more than any other—hope can cure nearly everything.”
Life can become pretty dreary and hopeless if one lives as though there are no miracles. It’s a boring and dull existence, marked more by despair and sadness than joy and adventure. Too many people go through life believing that there are no miracles.
I look at the faces of men and women who, five days a week, line up early each morning seeking admission to our adult rehabilitation center (ARC). They are, for the most part, just hoping for a bed, sick and tired of their lives, an expression of hopelessness on their faces. There is little reason for hope; they’ve been rejected too many times.
We are in the business of creating “miracles” for these men and women. We’ve witnessed the change that happens in the life of an alcoholic or drug addict when they begin to allow the Spirit of God, the “miracle” of hope, to come into their lives.
The other Sunday in our ARC service we had a time of sharing. We asked if anyone had celebrated any milestones in their life that week. Immediately several men and women stood and shared the miracle of that happening. One woman stood and stated, “I’ve just celebrated a miracle. I’ve had six months clean and sober this week!” Everyone applauded.
Next was a man who said, “I’ve just had one full week sober!” Then another said, “I just received my green lanyard for one full month being clean and sober. I praise God for the miracle happening in my life!” Again, the audience applauded.
The sharing closed with a woman, not in the program and unknown to us, who said, “My son, who was lost, has just had 30 days drug and alcohol free. My son is back. It’s a miracle of God for our family.”
Our beneficiaries are encouraged with these words: “When the going gets tough and you are tempted to leave, give the program just one more day. Don’t leave until the miracle happens.”
This month thousands of Salvationists and friends met in Pasadena for The Gathering. They heard the message of Jesus’ love, and many decided to invite him to become Lord of their lives and to accept God’s challenge to share the miracle of his love and transforming grace with others.
General Linda Bond, Commissioners Jim and Carolyn Knaggs, with a staff of presenters, youth leaders and musicians, led the event, and there was a continuing sense of the presence and power of God in Pasadena that will be carried back to far-flung places in the Western Territory. The power of prayer was experienced in a powerful way at every event.
Live your life as if everything is a miracle—for, you see, it is!
