My Jesus Calling devotional recently said, “Expect to see miracles, and you will.” I believe that with my whole heart. And yet, alongside that belief, I find myself regularly asking the Lord to help me live in expectancy of the miraculous without insisting on how that miracle should arrive—or what it should look like. Because if I’m honest, that’s where I get into trouble.
I realized a long time ago that I tend to have false expectations of God. Not about His goodness—I don’t think it’s possible to overestimate that—but about His methods. I often crave quick fixes, the dramatic “shazam” moments that feel unmistakably miraculous, rather than the slower, long-term work God so often seems to prefer.
When my earthly father was sick, I wanted a miracle more than anything. I wanted Papa God to sweep in, touch his body, and make everything right. My dad said he wanted to be healed, but he also said he wasn’t afraid to die. He hinted that if he wasn’t going to be fully well, he was ready to go be with Jesus. I, however, was not ready. I couldn’t imagine life without him—for my mom or for me. He was my wisdom, my safety, my place to land. I loved him deeply, and I still do.
I didn’t get the miracle I was praying for. Six years ago, I had to say a temporary goodbye to the man who loved me so well on this side of eternity. But I did receive a miracle—just not the one I was looking for. Slowly, and only as I’ve allowed it, Papa God Himself has become that kind of Father to me.
Before my dad died, he wrote out Ephesians 3:20 on a card for me: “Exceedingly, abundantly more than you ever dared dream, hope, or ask for.” For a long time, I thought that promise hadn’t come true. Now I see that I was wrong. God didn’t just perform my miracle—He was my miracle.
I wanted the shazam of physical healing. But how long would that have lasted? Eventually, sickness would have returned. Shazams are often temporary. Instead, I was given the deeper miracle of learning to depend on the One who is truly dependable—eternal, unchanging, and perfectly loving. My Papa God.
As I reflect on this, I realize most of the true miracles in my life haven’t come in the forms I expected. But that’s God’s style, isn’t it? Israel waited centuries for a Messiah—a grand, powerful warrior who would overthrow Rome. When the true miracle arrived in the form of Jesus, humble and gentle, many rejected Him and nailed Him to a cross. We humans are fickle like that.
So as 2026 unfolds, may we stay open to the miraculous showing up in ordinary places—in the waiting, the sighing, the quiet endurance of daily life. God is present in the smallest details, near to us in pain, faithful in the long stretches between answers. He never leaves, never gives up, and remains our ever-present help in times of need.
Now that is a miracle!
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