Double You: The Miracle of Time and Opportunity
Aug 17, 2021
By Guest Blogger, Douglas Montgomery Jr.
Originally published September 15, 2017, used with permission
This was derived from a true story, and it changed my life.
I was on a business trip once which took me to a major city. A large and nationally known facility recognized as a place of worship was there that I wanted to visit. My schedule was tight, but I found my hotel was within fifteen to twenty minutes walking distance to the site. I had one hour before I was expected to meet my coworkers in the hotel lobby, so I theorized I could walk to the site and back in time if I walked briskly. This would allow me to spend around twenty minutes at the facility. Not a long time but at least a chance to see it in person and perhaps at least partially fulfill my desire to visit.
I set out walking with optimism and anticipation for what I was about to experience. As I hurried to get to the location of this prominently known place of worship, a vagabond, a homeless man, tried to stop me asking “can you help me get something to eat?” I didn’t have time to stop and kept walking. It took a while for me to recognize the irony or even hypocrisy of the situation. In my hurry to get to this location of worship, to see that place of goodwill and service, I had specifically ignored an opportunity to demonstrate goodwill and service by being a blessing to another. In my rush to visit a place of renowned worship and service, I failed to fulfill an opportunity to demonstrate service in providing a necessity of life for another person where I was able. While a part of me questioned his true need, the previous thought stuck with me- “I had the means, and could have helped him but I didn’t”. My justification was that I didn’t have time, but the result was still that I didn’t do it. Perhaps I’ll see him on my walk back I thought. But on my return, he was no longer there.
As I looked for him on my walk back, I felt a sense of loss and disappointment that I would not get another chance to do the right thing in this case. The following thought declared itself boldly in my mind. “My act of service could have been part of a miracle he was in need of”. I wondered, did I just set a precedent before God that my life was too busy to be part of a miracle? Even more, being part of a miracle, could mean I was to be the vessel God uses to provide the miracle to another. Or being part of a Miracle could just as easily be a situation where I am the one in need of the miracle. The miracle is the event and I could be on either side of the equation when it takes place- the giver or the receiver. But I just set a precedent to God that I didn’t have time for miracles. Perhaps the next one I miss would be the one intended for me that I was in need of?
Where Is Your Miracle-What is it?
Miracles can be many different things to many people. As we define what miraculous means to us, and then recognize what is occurring around us, we set the stage for us to be a part of miracles each day- even for things that may not seem like a miracle by our own definitions but are miracles to others. Some examples based on our perspectives may be:
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Business success for some, but just getting a job for others
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Good health for some, just the gift of life itself for others
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A reprieve from loneliness for some, the gift of solitude for others
2 Examples of Miracles
The following 2 examples which I have witnessed first-hand
First, I think of my friend Richard Paul Evans responding (or “rising up” if you read my first blog) when he paused at a parking lot in the midst of a busy book tour. While “the next meal” is not a miracle to most of us, my friend Rick was the vessel that then provided that exact miracle to a mother who was praying “where will the next meal for my children come from?” And I believe because he proved he “had time for a miracle” when he was to be the vessel of delivery, in doing so, he was then the recipient of his own “Christmas Box Miracle” in the years to follow.
Second, In my own life, my wife and daughter received the miracle of a mother’s instinct prompting them to press further when my two-year-old grandson just wasn’t his usual self and was initially diagnosed as “just having a virus” at the physician’s office. The inspired motherly instinct of pressing further lead the doctors to discover him in a severe state of DKA, Diabetic Ketoacidosis, something usually not tested for. He was rushed by ambulance from that facility to the local children’s hospital for a 5-day stent which stabilized him. My wife and daughter taking the time to listen then responding as needed, delivered a miracle for us all as my grandson now fills our days with joy as he now lives successfully with Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes.
Where Is Your Miracle- Do You Have Time For It?
Notice, the only difference between the words “Where is your Miracle”, and “Here is your miracle” is the letter “W”/“double-u”.
It’s easier to see the difference the one letter makes when looking at the phrases one above the other as below.
“Where is your miracle”
“here is your miracle”
Instead of just the letter “W”, more appropriately, in this case, the “double-“YOU”. Because “YOU” can stand in two places of a miracle. You may be the vessel to deliver it in some way great or small to someone else, or you could be on the receiving end of the miracle. There are two places for “YOU” in a miracle. Double You.
Don’t miss your own miracles by demonstrating you don’t have time to be a part of miracles themselves.
Karma? What goes around comes around? Sowing what you reap?
It’s been stated many ways. We set a precedent before God whether we will be a part of miracles or not. That precedent may then apply to all miracles where we are on either side of the equation, whether we are the vessel of delivery or the recipient.
So do you have time for a miracle? Perhaps you know someone that could use one, great or small? Please share this with them.
Until next time- Doug
