Don’t Miss This Devotional
How to Invite Miracles into Your Life
From an address given to students at Ensign College in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, on March 24, 2020. Read the full text at ensign.edu.
Decide today to see, be, and knee the miracle, and great and wondrous blessings—big and small—surely await you.
Today I want to talk about a hallmark component of our Savior’s ministry:
Miracles.
But rather than rehearse His myriad miracles in the old world and new, I want to relate a personal miracle I witnessed many years ago, in the hopes of opening your eyes to the miracles going on around you every single day.
Miracles have been and will always be an operational part and parcel of a merciful and loving God and His Son, Jesus Christ. In other words, expect to see miracles in your life.
What exactly makes a life event a miracle rather than mundane? The world defines a miracle as an “extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause,” “an effect or event manifesting or considered as a work of God,” “a wonder [or] marvel.”1
One of the lines in my patriarchal blessing reads, “And you will see the hand of the Lord in your life … and you will witness miracles.” If anything, that has been an understatement. After 60-plus years of living—and nearly dying—but also marveling at the goodness of God all along the way, I will testify to you that I see the miraculous and merciful hand of the Lord in my life every single day.
I have indeed witnessed miracles.
And—here’s a spoiler alert—I can affirm with certainty that each of you, no matter your situation or circumstance, are also experiencing miracles on a daily basis, even though you may not be aware of many of them.
Our problem as Saints is not a dearth of blessings. Our problem is that we as a covenant people of the Lord have the windows of heaven wide open with blessings literally gushing forth. We are so abundantly blessed that the myriad of miracles around us sometimes become pedestrian or even invisible in our lives. Sadly, this embarrassment of riches doesn’t get our full attention, nor the gratitude, that it should. Like having the wind at our back, we sometimes simply don’t recognize the majesty and might of the miracles around us.
Today, I want to relate one of those small miracles that got my full and undivided attention, a miracle that I will never forget.
The Lost Ring
Not long after returning home from their honeymoon early in June several years ago, my daughter Emi and my son-in-law Chase had one week to stay with us before heading to their new home in California, USA. During that week, they planned to open all their wedding gifts, write thank-you notes, and then pack the car.
Needless to say, it was a very hectic week.
But the following morning after opening gifts, Emi noticed that not only was her wedding ring not on her hand, it was not on the ring holder she faithfully placed it on every single night. Trying not to panic, she knew she must have set it down somewhere in the house and began to look for it. Wherever it was, she was certain it would be found. But after a casual search turned up nothing, she alerted Chase and then my wife and me. We then each began independent searches, taking a second look at what had surely been overlooked, knowing that one of us would find the ring. Only, we didn’t.
Far beyond the cost of replacing the ring was the sentimental value of that precious and highly symbolic band. The ring represented love, sacrifice, hard work, and a commitment to each other, and was a token of an eternal relationship.
Chase was a university student who had worked hard and scraped together everything he could to buy her that ring. And for the eight months of their engagement, Emi treasured the emblematic nature of that ring and the eternal nature of their bonds that the ring symbolized.
The next morning, there were more questions, more silent prayers, and much more focus as we all jumped into what I’ll call a “second level” of searching urgency. This time we combed through rooms in the house where Emi might have been but possibly forgotten. On hands and knees, we searched under couches. And then under all the cushions on those same couches. But once again, we turned up nothing.
As the day arrived for them to depart, my heart was broken seeing my daughter’s bare left hand and the understandable look of incompleteness on her face. And yet, devastated as they both were, I was stunned to see them leave with an uncanny degree of hope that the ring would be found. I acknowledged their hope. However, the realist in me left me with no other conclusion than, after five days of searching with no results, this ring was gone.
Against all reason and logic, Emi and Chase both remained optimistic and somehow filled with faith that the ring would be found. They manifested those critical catalysts in the formation of a miracle as they were anchored by faith and unwavering hope—no matter how long the odds appeared to be. And instead of spending time shopping for another ring, they spent time on their knees and in the temple.
Even if their faith wasn’t rewarded in the way they wanted, they did not doubt. They trusted in God with all their hearts and leaned not to their own understanding (see Proverbs 3:5–6). They refused to give in to what J. R. R. Tolkien penned in his classic The Fellowship of the Ring when he wrote:
“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.”2
Nearly a full month went by with no luck. And the road had not only darkened but appeared to have hit a dead end. Everyone—with the exception of Emi and Chase—had pretty much given up.
Then, one night after work, a month after the ring had been lost, I got a text from Meagan, the girl who cuts my hair. I read one sentence that made my heart leap. The text read:
“Did you ever find Emi’s ring?”
A few weeks earlier, I had mentioned to Meagan how sad we were about losing Emi’s ring. But I could not imagine why she would be texting me unless she knew something about it. With shaky hands I somehow texted back a very concise reply:
“No,” I responded.
“Can you send me a picture of her ring?”
A picture? Why would Meagan want a picture? It didn’t matter. I could feel something was happening, and so I sent a photo, and then I waited for a reply. It was just four words:
“I have her ring.”
I immediately called Meagan, who asked me to come get the ring. “Are you sure?” I said. “I mean, really sure?” She chuckled and said, “Come and see for yourself. This is a miracle that you’re not going to believe.”
I was about to witness a miracle, a miracle that Emi and Chase had qualified for, according to Brigham Young. Said President Young:
“Miracles, or these extraordinary manifestations of the power of God, are not for the unbeliever; they are to console the Saints, and to strengthen and confirm the faith of those who love, fear, and serve God.”3
Before I tell you the rest of this miraculous story, I want to ask you: Have you done a personal miracle inventory? Have you counted your many blessings and named them one by one? Have you counted your many blessings to see what God has done?4
If not, let me suggest three ways that will help you identify the many miracles going on in your life.
1. See the Miracle
First of all, you must “see the miracle.” My little miracle is easy to see. But do you see the miracles going on around you every day? The fact that your heart, which, if you are about 20 years of age, has already pumped blood through your body more than 840 million times. Or that you own the cell phone in your pocket, which has over 100,000 times the processing power of the computer that landed man on the moon 50 years ago. And the most cherished miracle of all, that you are among the 0.2 percent of the world’s population who have the restored gospel and all of its associated and exalting blessings.
2. Be the Miracle
May I be bold and suggest that, instead of waiting for your miracle, you can decide to be a miracle worker yourself? God wants to answer your prayer, but maybe also someone else’s prayer through you. As President Thomas S. Monson (1927–2018) enjoined: “Please do not pray—I plead with you—for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle.”5 Follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost and allow God to answer someone else’s prayer through you. Truly, when you “are in the service of your fellow beings, you are in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17).
3. Knee the Miracle
This means, in physiological terms, we must articulate to 90 degrees that joint between our thigh and lower leg as we—in spiritual terms—humbly petition God for the divine intervention we seek. Remember that our God is a God of miracles, that our Savior Jesus Christ’s workings are arguably a “ministry of miracles.”
Remember that He created the earth and all things thereon. That He turned water into wine, doubters into believers. That He walked on water, healed the sick, and raised the dead. And that His admonition to us today is to petition Him for those miracles in prayer, but then be patient in waiting upon His purposes and timing.
As Jesus so beautifully reminds us in the Doctrine and Covenants, “Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:68).
God Is in the Details
So how did Emi’s miracle happen? Well, here’s the rest of the “see, be, and knee the miracle” story.
A woman named Jilda was driving home with her three children and husband after a visit to her parents. Of the many things her kids enjoyed during that visit, the highlight was the banana muffins that Grandma made. After constant pestering from her children in the car, Jilda promised she would make them the muffins once they returned home. “But how will I do that?” she thought to herself. “I don’t even own a muffin tin.” And with that thought, she dozed off to sleep with her husband at the wheel and headed for home.
But for some reason, she woke up just as the car was coming up on a familiar freeway exit. It was then that the thought popped into her head that her favorite home accessory store was right off that exit. Surely they would have muffin tins. She quickly asked her husband to exit the freeway and go to that particular store. Walking in, she went straight to the bakeware section, where she began sizing up the muffin tins.
As she grabbed a muffin tin on the top shelf, she heard a faint jingling sound. Looking at the tins, she could see that one wasn’t stacking correctly. She then pulled it apart and realized why: nestled inside the tin was a sparkling diamond ring. Not wanting to have it end up in the wrong hands, she decided to put it in her pocket and begin a search for the owner as soon as she got home.
Jilda brought the ring to the hair salon where she worked. Throughout the day, she told the story of finding the ring to the other stylists and customers as she sought their ideas of how to get it back to the rightful owner. Meanwhile, after a long day of perms, colors, and haircuts, Meagan was more than ready to go home. But she noticed several stylists gathered around Jilda at the other end of the salon.
Feeling prompted, Meagan walked over to the group to see what the fuss was all about. As Jilda held up the ring, Meagan gasped. Then, and without hesitation, she exclaimed, “I think I know whose ring that is.” That’s when she texted me, and, well, now you know the rest of the miracle ring story.
The complex threads of this story are almost too much to comprehend. But as Jeremiah rhetorically reminds us, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27).
My daughter Emi later wrote of the experience:
“Thank you to God for proving more than ever that He truly is involved in the details of our lives and can make the most unlikely things happen! What a sweet reminder of the fact that our prayers are heard, no matter how small our problems are. If it’s important to us, it’s important to Him!”
The Lord Is Aware of the Miracles We Are Seeking
Now, while this miracle was magnificent, what about the miracles that don’t materialize? And why would a silly ring matter? There are global, macro events like COVID-19 or micro events such as what you are probably desperately praying for right now in your life. And the answer is, I don’t know.
But I know that He knows. And I trust Him. I also know that if He knows when a sparrow falls, then He also knows when even a single one of your teardrops falls. I also have implicit faith that He is “mighty to save” (2 Nephi 31:19), and, as Paul taught, “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Here’s what I can tell you: while waiting for your miracle, don’t miss the everyday marvels all around you, such as the miracle of seeing someone fully embrace the gospel and have a change of heart—someone who chooses to abandon sin and completely change their lives, and thus, their eternal fortune. Or just the weekly miracle of the sacrament, the sealing and healing power of temple ordinances, and every other blessing of the restored gospel. And please don’t forget the “ultimate miracles,” the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:
“What should you be looking for in your own life? What are God’s miracles that remind you that He is close, saying, ‘I am right here’? Think of those times, some daily, when the Lord has acted in your life—and then acted again. Treasure them as moments the Lord has shown confidence in you and in your choices. But allow Him to make more of you than you can make of yourself on your own. Treasure His involvement.”6
And not only treasure it, seek relentlessly for it. Remember that God can do anything, and everything in between. He is the Lord of all things.
Sisters and brothers, decide today to see, be, and knee the miracle, and great and wondrous blessings—big and small—surely await you. Like Emi and Chase, you can exercise your faith vigorously knowing you will be blessed whether or not your miracle moment is realized. Trust the Lord’s timetable. Go gratefully forth treasuring what the Lord has done in your life, and remember the words of Job: “I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number” (Job 5:8–9).