The other day, right in my kitchen, I witnessed a miracle take place.

I can’t say that I saw the transformation happen before my eyes but, without a doubt, a complete recovery took place that no one could deny.

It was a tulip that had died. I didn’t check its vital signs, but you could tell. It had been drooping for a day. I had actually tried to prop it up a bit so it matched the other tulip in the vase that was standing up straight. 

But by the next morning, the petals were curled and the stem was bent over the vase like a dead cowboy slumped over the back of a horse. It was kind of like a scene you’d see in an old western movie. 

Some might say it still had life in it, but I could tell this tulip was a goner. 

At very best it was only “mostly dead” … I picked that up from the movie, “The Princess Bride” where the hero was killed by the villain. His friends took him to Miracle Max to see if there was anything that could revive him. Miracle Max said there was one thing in his favour, that he was only mostly dead. 

But even Miracle Max didn’t think there was much hope for the hero. He sent them off with a pill and, as they waved goodbye to the hero’s friends, his wife asked him if he though it would work. Miracle Max simply said, “It would take a miracle.”

Well, that is what I witnessed in this tulip this morning. 

You could call it “all the way dead” or just “mostly dead” but this poor little purple tulip did not have a chance to revive outside of a miracle.

It was mid-morning when we noticed that the flower had gone the way of the flowers in the field – it was blown away. 

… That sounds like another reference to the old western gunslinger movies. 

There was nothing more we could do for this delicate, limp tulip. 

But then my wife recalled something. She had heard that if you put a penny in the water, the flower would come back to life. 

I didn’t believe this for a minute. I would have bet more than a penny on it not working. And unlike most people, I still have pennies … in a big container I use to collect coins in. 

Pennies themselves have been wiped off the face of the Canadian landscape. I may be the last bastion for them.

I went to my stash and got two pennies … because I didn’t think there was enough healing power in just one of the cheaply made little coins that have been discontinued. 

To our surprise, by lunch time that tulip was standing up straight as an arrow, and the shape of its petals looked remarkably like it was smiling at us. 

There you have it – it’s a miracle! 

Here’s the thing: The real miracle happens when a person, who has lived his life for himself, discovers that God loves him and sent His son, Jesus, to die for his sins. For that person to receive Jesus as his Saviour and then see the change in how he thinks, how he treats others, what he put his energy into and what he holds as important is an absolute miracle. No one could do that – only God, the great miracle worker. God has a miracle for you if you want it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What miraculous thing have you witnessed? Leave your comments and questions below.