"All that mankind has done, thought, gained or been: it is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of books."
-Thomas Carlyle

by Chris Hastings

I have my own special brand of miracle not experienced by society at large. I began to see its occurrence so frequently that it became my own type of miracle, one to be expected and almost relied upon. The moniker was one of my own creation, so thus, it is mine. My miracle.

The name is a Proximity Miracle. The use of an SAT word helps me feel more important, but the type of miracle strikes at the very heart of one of my biggest day-to-day issues, things I will never have to think about or worry about again.

There is a passage in the Gospels that would transform our presentation of the gospel and every decision we make if we accepted it radically enough. The passage asks us to count every cost. Not just count it, but weigh it. Is the worst-case scenario going to be worth it just for the sake of the fight? Even if we lose the battle with nothing gained, was it an issue worth fighting for?

To put it in context:

Most days I spend strategizing on one level or another. I wonder who I will be, what I will become and how I will get there. I wonder what tomorrow may bring and run scenarios and responses through my mind trying to outplay the next thing coming down the pike. And I always get blindsided. I don't mean just occasionally, I mean at every available opportunity. (I think this has to do with Hebrews 12:5: "and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, 'My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, not faith when you are reproved by Him.'")

This is where my special type of miracle comes into play. My first realizable experience with proximity miracles was in Turku, Finland. I traveled there during a Christian pilgrimage across the European continent. I had just arrived on a ship from Stockholm, Sweden and was in a hurry to catch the train from Turku (the old capital) to Tampere (where I had someone who was meeting my train.) I had one major problem: I was completely totally out of money. While spending the day in Stockholm, I had read through the entire book of Proverbs. The thing that struck me most significantly at the time was the relationship of a man to his use of his money. So I started giving it away. To anyone who asked. A beggar on the street - "Give to those who ask of you." (from the Beatitudes in Matt 5:42)

This generally worked out in the end. I had just enough money pay for fare to get to the shipyard and I was charming enough that I was able to use all the money I had left to get a berth overnight on the ship. The next morning, the problem had arrived. I had to get from the shipyard to the train station and I had to do it with some quickness. I would have had no problem walking, but if the arrangement was anything like anywhere else in the world the commercial side of town would house the train station and the industrial side of town would house the shipyard, and the two would never be close together.

And this is where my proximity miracle comes in. I fully expect a church bus full of nuns to whisk me away or have some stranger walk up and hand me exactly the amount for the train station. No such luck. The solution was not quite as supernatural, but every bit as problem-solving.

I asked the lady at the counter where the train station was. I will never forget the response: "Two hundred yards down the platforms two trains take you to the train station free of charge." Not only was I off the hook, I never had to get off the train. It went straight from the shipyard, pit stopped in the train station and headed right on to Turku. My problem reared its ugly head - only to never have really existed as a problem.

This same little Providence happened weeks later when I was in Helsinki, Finland as well. I was entirely lost when it came to the Helsinki trolley system and I had to get from one church meeting to the next. I knew I didn't have the money and I knew that I couldn't even spend the money for a trolley pass. (I also had made the decision never to ride a trolley when I couldn't pay for it, because every time I tried I got caught.)

I was becoming concerned when a member of the first church service happened to be driving over to that part of the city and even going to the same service. I never had to worry about a pass. I never had to take the trolley to get there. When there is something within His will, He will provide in ways we may not always expect, predict or even agree with - but His provision provides for the execution of His will by His servants.

The only cost we are meant to count, the only concern we are supposed to concern ourselves with - is the immediate one. Tomorrow has enough problems for itself. Concern yourself with today's and let proximity miracles solve all the ones for tomorrow and the ones you never knew existed. Providence is at work and at hand.