"MINOR MIRACLES"

"And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
"But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea." (Acts 8:39-40)

The above verses tell of an amazing event: That Philip the Deacon in Acts chapter 8 was miraculously spirited away from the Gaza Strip area to Azotus. It would be kind of like instantly going from Chatham on Cape Cod to Taunton, MA (something like that)...impossible and pretty cool! Do things like this happen today. CAN things like this happen today?

When I was in Bible College a local pastor came to one of our classes as a guest speaker. He pastored a church in a rural area just outside Springfield, Missouri. I once had visited his church, AND we had worked together at a special children's event held in the Springfield area. I cannot remember his name. I DO remember what he looked like. He looked EXACTLY like Jackie Gleason, and I mean EXACTLY. When he spoke to our class, he told us that he once left for St.Louis on Interstate 44 and found himself IMMEDIATELY in the St. Louis suburbs. The three hour trip had taken SECONDS. He likened it to the above Bible story. He is the only person I have ever heard report having experienced something like that.

Another unusual account happened to a guy I know named Tom Hazell. Around forty years ago, he and a few buddies drove a car from California to Massachusetts all on ONE TANKFUL of gasoline. Tom reports that God just miraculously kept replenishing the gasoline and it was a miracle trip. Frankly, I know some folks who do not believe his story, but Tom is a very honorable and truthful guy, and I have no reason to NOT believe him.

Well, today I feel I experienced a couple of similar miracles in my own life!

I am a stickler for being on time and being responsible. Today, I was scheduled to start on the phone at VIP Answering Service at 7 a.m. I planned to get up a little after 5. I heard my wife leave around 4:40 a.m. I lay down for "a few more minutes." Suddenly I looked at my watch and it was five minutes before 6! It typically takes an hour to drive from Webster to Framingham in the morning! Wow, was this stressful?! I leaped out of bed, poured water on my "bedhead" and combed it. I threw my clothes on. I did not even brush my teeth. I jumped into the car. I looked and realized I was very low on gasoline! I probably did not have enough to make it to Framingham, AND I had almost no cash on me.

In the past when I've been THAT late leaving, I've had to drive at 75-80 MPH, all the while praying, "I'm sorry, Lord, please forgive me!" Even so, I usually will end up then rushing into the call center huffing and puffing. I don't know why, but I set the cruise control at 65. I also slowed a few times to let traffic in. I also just HOPED I would not run out of gas. Neither action is like me at all!

Regarding the gasoline, the needle did not "drop to total empty" until I arrived at the work parking lot. But here is the amazing part. I was just past getting on the MassPike when suddenly I was just coming to 495. I looked at my watch and I was just about where I should be under "normal" conditions. HOW WAS THAT POSSIBLE?! I wondered HOW I could go from Grafton to Route 495 almost instantly. I pulled into the parking lot at a few minutes before 7, and signed in to work on time.

It doesn't make sense...that I did not run out of gas, or that I did the speed limit, and a little less, and got to work on time.

Were these miracles?

I think maybe they were!