Stewarding the Miracle: Walking in Faith, Waiting in Wonder

She sows her prayers in faith,

trusting the Lord will bring them to fruition.

She knows her journey unfolds in the Gardener’s hands; therefore, every seed contains power and creative purpose.

She found rest, for not an ounce of her life is wasted.

Her seasons of wandering are not filled with uncertainty because He knows her, and she knows Him.

No, she walks in wonder, understanding the process is part of the promise.

She no longer sees waiting as barren but holy ground, where roots grow deep, and faith takes shape.

She is stewarding her faith as the miracle.

I. Believe when you pray.

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24

Often, we think our prayers go unanswered because we don’t understand God’s mind or His ways. We must come to know Him intimately to recognize His breath in our situations.

Honestly, the LORD answers before we ask because He knows what we need before we need it—that is the truth, and that is how good God is!  Before the world existed, salvation was on Heaven’s schedule.

I’ve discovered something in my season of stillness: God is a Gardener. He loves sowing and reaping so much that sowing and reaping are an undercurrent throughout the Biblical narrative because it is the Kingdom.

Consider: God the Father sowed His Beloved Son to reap a new creation of sons and daughters. He sowed incorruptible Seed that produces partakers of His divine nature. He sowed love, righteousness, peace, and joy so that we would have an endless supply of it through the Spirit.  I promise to come back to this later📌. For now, let’s continue with Kingdom principle and reality.

We bypass the incredible truth that we stand in the miraculous. The fact that we pray and walk with God, whom we cannot see with our eyes, demonstrates this truth. The fact that we believe and know without reservation that the blood of Jesus saves us is a miracle. We don’t come to the faith on our own. He revealed Himself to us. We can trust Him in all things since we believe in Him for our greatest need.

We sometimes miss the “answered prayer” because God’s solutions often come in seed form.  We expect to see the apricot tree when the Lord sowed the apricot seed. Remember, Israel wanted a king and thought he would rule in a manner that altered their political system when, in actuality, the King of kings came as a Child, ushering in an entirely new creation—an eternal Kingdom with unlimited power and great glory. They didn’t get it; may we not miss Him.

Friends, this is how extraordinary, industrious, and lavish His plans are for us. He sowed something far more significant in us, which is produced through us and is often revealed, confirmed, and cultivated by His word.

How we stewards His great and precious promises determines the time it takes to reap the harvest.

Steward, well, the season you are in.

Steward well the stillness and quiet.

Steward, well, the word He speaks to you.

Be a people of His presence.

 We work out our salvation because God has worked something within us. Don’t dig up what He has worked in.

“And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:4.🌱

II. Trials, Testing, and Faith.

What you thought was a trial was testing.  I say it in this manner because it brings out what James mentions here 👉🏾  “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials (peirasmos) of various kinds, for you know that the testing (dokimion) of your faith produces steadfastness.” James 1:2-3.

The word trial means to submit to a test, to learn a thing's true nature or character.  Ponder that for a moment.  Christ was crushed, producing intoxicating oil.  The giving of the Holy Spirit allows us to have this understanding of life through the lens of the finished work. 

Therefore, the fiery trial is never to destroy us but rather to refine us, burning away what is not true of our new nature in Christ Jesus.  

Embracing the understanding positions us to receive grace for whatever happens, significantly strengthening us in seasons of difficulty.

The Holy Spirit didn’t define what these situations would look like through the apostles' words. Instead, He focuses on their point and our posture in them, which is interesting and something we should allow to stir within us.

Christ is working on something far more glorious than we can imagine.  Oftentimes, circumstances are opportunities that reveal what we believe about God. It is a time when, if we think something erroneous, it can be dealt with while making room for cultivating authentic faith. The verse from James points to this because the word for testing means to prove genuine.

A powerful revelation is that difficult situations press us into God.  They cause us to stop relying on the flesh and encounter Him in the Spirit. These tests, whatever they may be, remind us this world is not our home; that, indeed, we are in the world but not of it.  As we approach the coming of our Lord Jesus, it is becoming more and more apparent that we cannot move the way the world does. We are called out ones; here for such a time as this to reveal Him, in whom we live, move, and have our being.

Trials reveal what is available to us, indeed, Who is available to us.  They allow us to see what is readily available to us as Kingdom citizens that we have yet to possess as our own.  God knew what He placed in us—we don't understand Who and what we have access to.  Here is a reminder—the Spirit of the Living God, the same powerful Spirit that raised Christ from the dead and brought us to eternal life in Him, dwells in us.

Friends, that is the miracle we get to own here, now! And we are accountable for this knowledge—the truth that we were dead and now live.

It is no small thing! Refinement and alignment are times of great revelation of Him, the Kingdom we reside in, and the inheritance He died to give us.

“As we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18

III.  Miracles Cost

Miracles are costly because they require a response.

Miracles demonstrate an aspect of His person (character) on an entirely new level. We encounter His hand, whether provision, power, or sovereign providence. We experience His heart drawing us intimately. It is no small thing when the Creator calls His creation.  It is no small thing for us to see God work.

We encounter miracles daily but miss them because we limit the miraculous to situations such as the loaves and fishes and the parting of the Red Sea, and they are. However, manifesting physical needs often points to a more profound deliverance. Miracles are so that we will believe Him.

Therefore, removing anything that obstructs our view of Him so that we see Him with precision and accuracy is a miracle. Anything that fine-tunes our ability to hear Him is a miracle. And this, again, is weighty because it demands a response.

The miraculous area also provides opportunities for repentance, to change our previous beliefs about God, and believe the truth about God. Repentance is necessary because it prepares the soil of our hearts for the seed of the truth, which is directly connected to the renewing of our minds.

We see this with the disciples. The Lord invited them to share in His work of feeding the 5000+. Our Lord's thanksgiving for the little placed in His hands is a place we should soak for a while. Thanking God for no other reason than because we know and have Him is an incredible act of worship.  After the miracle of loaves and fishes, He told the disciples to go to the other side. Here's the thing: a storm kicked up.  The disciples were afraid.  Then Jesus comes walking in the storm.  He planned to pass by them. That is fascinating. Why would He go towards them only to pass them by?  Why is that detail recorded?

I believe the answer is in Luke 6:52, "For they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened."

They already had enough insight into who He was, His heart and hand. The storm was a test. They had the privilege of experiencing Him firsthand, but they didn't receive the understanding. Miracles are costly because, woven within them, we learn Who is available to us. Because of our relationship with Him and what He has done (the finished work- the cross and the empty tomb), we get to take from the Kingdom and use what we know about Him to conquer what we face here and now.

Miracles change the lens we use to see life. We have tasted and are seated at a perpetual feast of His kindness and grace.  We've had our hearts enlightened. The miraculous demands that what is understood of God, both His acts and His ways, not be limited to that single happening, but become the foundation and guide for how we respond in our future circumstances.

IV. Conclusion

God is always working. He is sowing His plans, cultivating faith, and bringing forth His purposes in unexpected ways. We can know His thoughts because His Spirit lives in us.

The miracle is not just in the answer to a problem, but also intertwined into the process, where we experience the countenance of our Father.  The very act of believing, walking by faith, and trusting His unseen hand is the miraculous life, and we are called to steward the knowledge of Him.

Every promise, every prayer, and every trial has the potential to produce something eternal, and we must not dig up what the Lord has planted in our process.  Instead, we hold fast, align our perspective with His, and embrace the process as part of the promise.  May we not miss Him while waiting. May we trust Him in the testing. May we walk in the miracle of faith in Him.

V. Journal Prompts:

Sowing & Reaping:

Reflect on when God answered your prayer in “seed form.” How did you initially respond? Looking back, how do you see His wisdom in the process?

Faith & Miracle:

What does it mean to you that faith itself is a miracle? How has God strengthened your faith in a season of waiting or testing?

Stewarding the Season:

What season do you believe God has you in right now? How can you steward it well in His divine rest, with faith and expectation rather than frustration and wrestling?

Trials & Testing:

Think about a challenge you’ve faced recently. How did it reveal what you believe about God? What truths from His Word can you cling to moving forward?  Write them down, post them on a sticky note so they are readily available, and meditate on Him.

God’s Timing vs. Your Expectations:

Have you ever expected God to move in one way, only for Him to answer differently? How did that experience shape your trust in Him?

Waiting & Holy Ground:

How can you shift your mindset to see waiting as an opportunity to cultivate deeper roots rather than a barren season?

Recognizing the Unseen:

What are some unseen ways God is working in your life right now? Examples: experiencing His heart, sensing His presence, gleanings in the word, God-winks, and spiritual hugs.  How can you cultivate a heart that trusts in His process?

Miracles & Stewardship:

If the result of miracles requires stewardship, how can you practically steward the knowledge, faith, and experiences God has given you in your current season?

God's Presence & the Journey:

How can you acknowledge the presence of God on the journey? What practices help you remain rooted in Him?

Alignment & the Kingdom:

What is one way God is refining your understanding of His Kingdom? How is He shifting your perspective to align with His eternal purposes?

Let this be a season of expectation, trust, and faithful stewardship. The Gardener is at work—may we tend well to the seeds He has sown in us. 🌱