Messy Miracles

 By: Lauren Thomas 

Miracles are rare. But if you’ve ever experienced one, you know it doesn’t always look the way you might have expected, and it doesn’t always turn out the way you would have chosen. I think about this a lot at Christmas time.

I think of Mary pregnant with the very Son of God. If you’ve experienced pregnancy, you know that pregnancy is uncomfortable, and even painful and unpleasant at times. Did Mary expect her pregnancy to go differently carrying God’s son?

 

I think of Mary giving birth in a messy manger, away from home, away from female family and friends to usher her baby into the world.

 

I think of the King of Kings being born among animals and worshiped by social outcasts, shepherds.

 

I think of the Messiah. The Jews expected their messiah to have military might, to set them free from foreign governments and oppression. But he was humble and submitted to death on a cross.

 

These were all messy miracles by our measure. We might have planned a painless pregnancy for Mary, a pristine palace and a mighty Kingdom for a King. But these messy miracles still manifested the marvels of God!

 

*Trigger Warning* I know a little something about messy miracles. At 14 weeks pregnant, I was told I was losing my baby, that it was “inevitable.” But without medical intervention, my loss was reversed – God sustained my pregnancy. God gave me the miracle. I expected that miracle would carry to term, a full 40 weeks. But at 23 weeks I was hospitalized and at 24 weeks I delivered by c-section. My baby boy remained in the NICU for 5 months before we got to take him home. The first 2 years at home involved 10+ medical specialists and therapists, almost weekly appointments, and a handful of hospitalizations. It was a messy miracle.

 

But the miracle is not just that we now have a healthy toddler, but the marvel of what God has done in me through it all.

 

I want to look into your eyes as I type now, tears welling up in my eyes, and tell you this: If what you are facing is messy, don’t for a minute think that God isn’t in it. Miracles are messy. AND God will still manifest himself in the marvels he is working along the way. Don’t give up, because God’s not done. Just because it doesn’t look how you would expect, or it doesn’t feel the way you imagined, God is working. And it will turn out for God’s glory and your good.

 

May we only respond to God the way Mary responded to the angelic announcement:

 

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:38 ESV

 

And believe that God’s marvels are manifested even in the messiest of miracles.

 

Reflection:

Can you think of other examples in Scripture of messy miracles? (Example: Wouldn’t it have been easier if Lazarus hadn’t died in the first place?)

What messy miracles have you experienced in your life? How has God manifested himself in those miracles?

What “messy miracles” are you in the middle of right now?