Of Bees and Miracles

The alarm was raised by one of the Mandarin tuition teachers; there were bees in the school.
Apparently folks in the neighborhood had set fire to smoke out a bee hive somewhere behind our premises, which resulted in them 'migrating' over. It wasn't just one or two bees, there was a very visible swarm clinging onto the ledge of one of the windows on the stairs. I wondered why they had to choose a narrow window ledge inside when there was a big tree outside just meters away in our compound which surely was a much more naturally appropriate place for bees. Thankfully, school had dismissed for the day. As it happened, the pest-control guy was around doing his usual monthly spraying but he refused to spray the bees. According to him, we had to wait till the bees built a nest first and then spray it with a different chemical solution to get at the queen bee. I was horrified; my mind already imagining a huge hive and bees buzzing in our hair. Goodness, that would be disastrous for the safety of the 200 odd kids coming into school tomorrow; not to mention the adverse 'publicity' when parents got hold of the news. But there really was nothing that we could do right there and then.

Only 1 thing remained; I grabbed hold of one of the teachers still in school and prayed. Back home, I sent up urgent petitions to God to do something about those bees. The minute I got into school early the next morning,  I rushed to the stairs, fearing the worst. What greeted my eyes made me gasp aloud. There on the floor was a clump of bees, all quite dead. Somewhat bemused, I recalled the Exodus miracles that Moses wrought, banishing frogs, lice, flies and locusts over the land of Egypt (Exodus 8-10). But my logical mind told me to check first. So I queried our cleaner-lady; nope, she hadn't sprayed anything on the bees, in fact she had been so scared she had quickly finished up her duties, locked up the place for the day and gone home. And nope, the pest-control man had not sprayed anything on the bees either.

So what happened? Someone ventured that probably the bees must have been in contact with some chemical being sprayed over their nest before they were smoked out and migrated over. That was the most likely scenario, but that didn't explain why the bees ended up on a window ledge inside the stairway  nor how opportune the timing was, with everything happening when there were no kids or parents around. The miracle wasn't in the bees dying, but in their appearing and dying as they did, in an empty school. And that certainly wasn't due to any chemical effects or coincidence. Only a God who created time  and is beyond time Himself can arrange things to happen at precisely the right moment. 

I knew this was more than just about bees. Just a month or so earlier, God had answered another of my prayers in a spectacular way. My son had adamantly insisted on taking up Chemical Engineering for his university study. There were only 2 local uni's whose Chem Eng degree was recognized by the professional Institute of Engineers. One was way beyond my budget, the other rejected him as his subject marks didn't qualify him for entry. I asked my son to consider another course; he refused. I took the issue up with his Abba Father in heaven, as I sent in a written appeal to the uni. After 2 weeks of me biting nails in suspense, my son was allowed to register on condition he pass the first semester exam subject. 

But this was nothing compared to what happened when I prayed regarding my son's transportation to his new place of study. Using public transport meant the boy would probably be spending some 3/4 hours on the road, for it would involve him taking 1 LRT and 2 buses, which is, practically speaking, an impossible situation. So I "threw" the problem "upstairs" care of Jesus Christ, my Intercessor. In my limited mind, I was hoping maybe my son would be able to secure a lift from a fellow student or something along those lines. I also knew my neighbor had an old Proton which was left lying around since their son took off overseas, so I approached her with the idea to buy it . I was still reconsidering the price tag when she called me up and told me to get ready the transfer forms. I didn't quite 'get it' initially; I thought she was renting the car to me. Then it finally dawned on me she was talking of transfer of ownership; I told her I was thinking about the price. She says, "No, no, you can have it for free." I have never in my life received a free car. Heck, even between relatives, borrowing a car isn't easy, what more getting a car absolutely FOC (free of charge). What she did is really way beyond kind or neighborly. Never in my life did I expect a free car to be dropped literally into my son's hands, from someone who is for all intents and purposes a stranger.

Yet she is really not a stranger; at least not anymore. I remember the first time I stepped into this neighbor's house some 9 years ago to share the message of God's love to her; she politely showed me the door then. That had started me praying for her until the day she finally came to Jesus Christ herself some 2 years back. She may not be my blood relative, but she is very dear to me as a sister in Christ in the family of our God. Even then, to donate away a car is magnanimity out of all proportion, considering I have done her no favors and she owes me nothing. It was God who saved her, not I. It was God who helped her in the time of her trouble when she turned to Him; it is God who continues to help her even now. So why the generous gift? I can only put it down to God's mysterious ways, positioning me to be in this particular situation at this particular moment in time, moving her heart to meet my need  in the spirit of His love. He makes her a blessing to be my blessing. God is truly able to do exceedingly abundantly above and beyond anything we can ever ask or think.

And that's what miracles are about. Not a fantastic 'magic show' that is staged for man's applause or to 'prove' there is a God, no need for  thunderclaps and lightning from heaven. Jesus' first miracle was done at a wedding party where He turned water into wine for a whole 'kampung' of guests without any fanfare. No one except the lowest servants and a handful of His followers knew in the first instance. 3 years later, the greatest most dramatic miracle of all time was played out on a cross where He hung dying; yet no one figured it out, not even those closest to Him. Nobody could ever imagine that damning death could be overcome and overturned into eternal life, or that by that 1 single act of sacrifice, all of mankind could be saved. It was an incredulous, impossible, incomprehensible mystery. It still is.... and that's what makes miracles miracles.

Dead bees and a free car. Wine for a wedding and salvation for all. When we care to trace the invisible hand of a loving gracious sovereign God in all things, big and small, ordinary or uncommon, happy or sad,  that's when we grasp the wonder of miracles in life and we become most blessed of all creatures. GK Chesterton had this to say, “We are perishing for lack of wonder, not for lack of wonders.” C.S. Lewis talks about miracles as a "retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.” That simply means some of us 'get it', some of us just don't. It was a rock star (Jon Bon Jovi)  no less who said, "Miracles happen everyday. Change your perception of what a miracle is and you'll see them all around you." Even an ex President (Corazon Aquino) has no qualms admitting, " I am not embarrassed to tell you I believe in miracles.". Well, that makes two of us.

Indeed I consider the very fact that I can wake up to a brand new day every morning a miracle in itself, for my life is not in my hands. And the grandest miracle of all - the salvation of my soul. Unsee-able through human eyes, incomprehensible through human intellect. But that doesn't make it any less a miracle; for at my death, its certainty will be manifested when angels usher me into heaven to meet my Maker.

 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes" - Romans 1:16