If you seek God and work for Him in everything, without pause, the result will be miraculous. Translation: answer when He knocks.

When we have failure, we have to investigate the reasons behind it. It could just be a test, or as I just said, God’s way of nudging us from something that really isn’t good for us. It could also be the result of something wrong that we have done (or are still doing), and for which we must atone. Going back through our lives, we should review every major event, good and bad, and ask ourselves what we took from it. Did we learn from it? Did we improve? Are we focusing our prayers on getting over the hurdle the next time it comes? Remember that trials come in ways that are mostly unexpected – defeated only when prayer has been our preparation.

At other times, we should realize the need for trials. Tests afford an opportunity to step closer to Heaven. God is good and allows us to do some of our purgatory here on earth. We follow Jesus and His cross. When we realize that, there is no longer the room for bitterness. I remember a conversation I had with the former Marine who described the passing of his wife from cancer and how it brought him closer to God. The nurturing of her during that difficult death showed him spiritual truths that otherwise would not have been shown. His response of joy, even in this great “tragedy,” filled him with grace: to this day, many claim that his prayers have healed or converted them. Her death was a gift to the both of them! He later began a ministry of hand-fashioning gorgeous rosaries and shedding tears of joy while he made them.

These tears he rubs into the beads as sort of an anointing.

All of us should likewise reflect on our lives and meditate on why certain unfortunate things may have occurred and what we can learn and produce from them.

God gave us free will. We are like sparks from the fire of His love and the test of life is whether we will return to Him or continue on as sparks into darkness. When we make choices for love, we are coming back to His Light.

The most “unmiraculous” thing we can do is distance ourselves from Him through disbelief, indifference, or anger. Everything is set in our paths for a reason and the longer we walk with God, the more we recognize the truth that there are no accidents. All events have some kind of purpose; only God fully understands what that purpose is. But we can say this: often, He allows chaos to erupt around us.

He does that because He needs to stir in order to cook. He wants to rearrange things. Our task is to submit. When we die, God will not judge on whether we met every single challenge in an absolutely perfect way but rather by how we made the attempt. What He wants is acknowledgement of Him in all circumstances.

[adapted from Michael Brown's The God of Miracles]

[resources: Special Michael Brown retreats: Florida, January 27 and Michael Brown pilgrimage, Medjugorje]

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