I’ll never forget that day. It rocked our world like none other. “Mr. Bengtson, I’d advise you and your wife go home and get your affairs in order. You will be dead in less than two years.” As we drove home from that doctor’s appointment, hand in hand, tears flowed readily as we wondered what our future held, but determined to continue to look to the One who held our future. Do miracles happen in real life? It was then, and still is now, our belief that God still performs miracles today.
Hearing that doctor’s predictions for my husband’s and my future was frightening at best, and panic-inducing at worst. I can tell you that I’m not the same person I was 20 years ago when we were given that prognosis. My faith has grown, and my worry, fear, and anxiety have significantly decreased as I’ve learned to more quickly and thoroughly trust God. But at that time, we took the doctor’s word as a death sentence. And yet, at the same time, something inside both of us rose up and determined that we were only going to give the final say to God.
Modern day miracles
On a recent episode of Your Hope Filled Perspective podcast, I interviewed Jay Straub, author of the book Miracle Man. Jay was an American Airlines pilot who experienced a life-threatening accident on the job, and was told he never should have lived. If you missed that episode, I would encourage you to listen here (The Miracle Man Shares Hope – Episode 82 – click to listen). His is a story of a modern day miracle.
Today, 20 years after my husband was given a death sentence from the doctor, he is alive, and has battled and won two additional cancer diagnoses. He is also an example of a modern day miracle. No one can tell me that God doesn’t heal anymore. I’ve seen too much evidence that God still performs miracles today.
Choosing what to focus on
I don’t know why God chooses to perform some miracles and not others, but I do know that He asks us to believe and to trust Him. That’s what my husband and I decided to do. We acknowledged the doctors, but we trusted God. We also intentionally chose what to focus on. We turned off the evening news, stopped getting the daily newspaper (social media had hardly emerged on the scene yet or we would have turned that off too). We chose to think on only the good, lovely, positive things just like scripture encourages us.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.
Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.
Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8 NLT
God still performs miracles today
My friend, if you are in need of a miracle today, keep seeking. Keep knocking. Keep believing. I can tell you from experience, God still performs miracles today. I’m in need of a couple miracles myself, and while I wait, I choose to trust Him.
Have you seen God perform miracles? We’d love to hear about them in the comments below.
Resource to Break Anxiety’s Grip
No question, we have a lot to worry about. Children, jobs, homes, health, finances, and more. The solution isn’t to rid ourselves of the sources of anxiety – as if we could. Instead, we need to recognize that anxiety originates from a spiritual influence and that we can fight back using the God-given weapons of power, love, and a sound mind.
We can discover true peace in an age of anxiety.
In Breaking Anxiety’s Grip, Dr. Michelle Bengtson shares her own story of emerging from the battle with anxiety as well as the stories of others. She reminds you of your identity as a follower of Christ and of the peace he promises you in spite of everything.
She provides tools to cope with the crushing emotional burden of anxiety now and, more importantly, shows you how to reclaim God’s peace as a way of life so that you can break anxiety’s grip.
Breaking Anxiety’s Grip: How to Reclaim the Peace God Promises is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBooks.com, Books-A-Million, and other fine book retailers.
Click here to learn more: Breaking Anxiety’s Grip.
Yes indeed modern day miracles happen and I am one of them! I am now 67 years old. I suffered with chronic, treatment resistant depression for 22 years.Then at age 62 a serious Clinical depression was heaped on top of that. I was hospitalized for months with no hope, on a feeding tube weighing 85 pounds, and totally catatonic, responding to no one or anything. Today I’m totally healed. I live in a retirement community. I play golf, play the piano daily, am in my church choir, and handbell group. Have many friends, and my loving husband of 46 years. Indeed God is on His Throne and performing miracles!!
Cynthia, that’s an amazing story. So what exactly happened? You were catatonic and basically on your dying breaths and then suddenly snapped out of it?
I’m so happy to hear about God’s miracle in your life. I’m currently getting in to the same spot. Years of deep depression, anxiety, feelings of detachment, and severe insomnia. I’ve been relying way too much on meds to save me and I realize now that only God can fix this. Idk about your situation but I definitely led myself here through years of putting God and Jesus to the wayside. Sadly, as the mental situation got worse, so did my sinning. I felt like God abandoned me and I was angry with him and felt like I was in this alone, but I realize now it’s all because I abandoned him. It’s led me to ruin.
Anyways, your story gives me hope. I really need nothing short of a miracle at this point in time and I’m just offering my heart up to God and begging him to forgive me for wasting all the multiple chances he’s given me to turn my life around and to please have mercy and pull me through this storm I created for myself. I just know it’s impossible without Him. I’ve got to put my faith in God and stop putting so much faith in meds. Only He can redeem this.
I believe God is still in the business of doing miracles for I have experienced them.
Yes!! Praise God for His healing miracles. I, too, was healed of depression. Also experienced healing from glaucoma. I had this “incurable” disease for a year, but after much prayer and growth in trusting God, the physician could find no trace of it.
Love this! Tweeted and pinned because I think so many of us need to hear this and realize the hope we have. Thanks for sharing!
I do believe in miracles. I have seen a few in my time. However, I think sometimes we miss them because we are looking a big one. I find God many times sends miracles in little bits and pieces but then when you look back you realize He performed a might miracle. Thank you for sharing your husbands healing, it gives us all hope to hang on and expect a miracle. Thank you for sharing with Grace & Truth. My prayers continue to be with you and the miracles we are expecting God to do.