Ask for Miracles, Trust God’s Answers
“I know that You continue to do miracles according to Your will and purposes. Please train me to align my will with Yours and to watch in hope for You to work.”
– Jesus Listens, January 30th
Yosemite glittered under a blanket of fresh snow, fitting for the start of an equally fresh year. It was New Year’s Day, and Paul and I were celebrating our engagement anniversary at the place where he proposed. We had spent the day crisscrossing the quiet valley, looking for the perfect angles for Paul to snap photos. Our search took us from one end of Yosemite to the other: under the shadow of towering El Capitan, along the winding King’s River, between bare trees shivering in cold mountain air, to a tiny church dripping with age and icicles. As the shadows grew longer and our stomachs began complaining, we stopped at Curry Village for a snack. That’s when Paul noticed something important was missing from his ring finger.
Our stomachs dropped. We started by upending the car, digging under seats and between cushions. No luck. I think we lost ninety percent of our hope at that point. Finding a silver wedding ring in snow-covered Yosemite Valley was about as close as you can come to the cliché “finding a needle in a haystack.” But we reluctantly retraced our steps, scanning trails and bridges as we backtracked. No surprise, we didn’t find it.
As we followed the road out of Yosemite, Paul asked if he could stop for one last picture at the first place we had visited that morning. He ran ahead, eager to catch the late-afternoon sun illuminating stories-high icicles where waterfalls should be. I took my time along the trail, the pad of my boots against soft snow the only sound. Pausing to breathe in the crisp air, I looked at the sky and prayed, “Lord, I know You know where Paul’s ring is. And if You’d show us, we’ll always remember every January first that You’re a God who does miracles.” When I glanced down at my feet, there in the snow—making a perfect silver circle—was Paul’s ring.
A few years later, Paul and I were backpacking in the Sierra Nevada mountains. After hiking all day, we set up camp near a glassy lake and made some freeze-dried fried rice for dinner. That’s when Paul noticed something important was missing from his ring finger. Again.
How could he lose it a second time? We had zero hope we’d find it. We had covered eight miles that day, and I was too embarrassed to ask God for a second miracle for the same blasted ring. But we halfheartedly searched the campsite and the surrounding area. Not surprising, no luck. Paul took his camera to hike a nearby ridge for the sunset. I opted to get into my warm sleeping bag instead. As I made my way into the tent, I finally prayed, “God, I’m so embarrassed that we lost it again. We should have gotten that ring resized the first time. It’s totally our fault. But I know You know where it is, and You, obviously, can do miracles, so… I mean… we’d really appreciate it if You’d help us find it.”
I shimmied into my sleeping bag, and as I pulled it up to my chest—I kid you not—there on top of my bag was that missing silver ring.
A few years later, Paul and I were making a funny video for a camp where we worked. Basically, I was supposed to pretend to punch a life-sized hockey puck in someone’s front yard. (Don’t ask.) During one of the many takes, my wedding ring must have made an exit from my finger. That’s my best guess, anyway, because that afternoon I noticed it was missing. After having Paul’s ring miraculously returned not once, but twice, this time I had a bit of hope that God would return it. I mean, a front lawn wasn’t nearly as daunting as Yosemite in snow, or an entire mountain. For God, this was child’s play. Plus, mine was worth more money than Paul’s. Surely that counted for something.
We searched the grass on our hands and knees four times, inspected the gutters, and combed through the house for good measure. But we never did find my wedding ring.
I’ve come to believe these stories are three parts to one whole truth. God hears our prayers and still does miracles today. I learned that firsthand when He returned Paul’s ring on New Year’s Day. When God returned the ring a second time, He proved He doesn’t run out of answers (or grace!), even when we’ve received mercy before. We can keep asking, even when we’re embarrassed, because God enjoys giving us good gifts (see Matthew 7:11). That said, God didn’t miraculously return my own ring. I learned He doesn’t always say yes, but that doesn’t mean He hasn’t heard or isn’t able. That’s been important to know later in life, when He said no to a job I really wanted, or to healing my mom from cancer.
So when you need a miracle, ask. You can trust He’ll say yes whenever He can, He’ll say no when it contradicts some higher purpose you can’t see today, and He’s a good God either way.
Taken from Your Brightest Life by Jessie Minassian. Copyright © 2024 by Jessie Minassian. Used by permission of Zondervan, www.zondervan.com.
For more free articles like these, download the Jesus Calling app!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jessie Minassian is a popular speaker, blogger, and author of fifteen books spanning multiple genres. As the “resident big sis” at LifeLoveandGod.com, a Q&A website for teen and young adults she founded in 2005, she keeps her finger on the pulse of each new generation. In addition to speaking across the country, Jessie’s work for girls and their parents has been featured internationally through outlets such as Focus on the Family, Parenting Today’s Teens, She Reads Truth, Axis, Revive Our Hearts, and Youthworker Journal. She and her husband live on the central coast of California with their two teen daughters.
