Chrysostom
Humble Servant of All
You cry out for a miracle, a sudden door opening, a swift mountain-top deliverance from the valley of debts and family strife. I hear the anguish in your soul, but listen carefully: you mistake the nature of God’s mighty work. You say, “If He just opened the door, let His Angel bring a Great Blessing this week.” But consider Job. What miracle did he work before the devil’s eyes? None. Yet God boasted of him. It was a life shining with endurance firmer than adamant that confounded the enemy, not a sudden release from his affliction.
You fear the old devil is trying to destroy your family, and indeed he assaults you. But he assaults you because he sees the potential for a great victory. Do you not know that the miracles, except we be sober, can even do harm? Many who received them were carried away with pride, aiming at the wealth and glory the miracles bring, and so perished. A sudden flood of money to pay all your debts in full might release your body from a creditor’s letter, but what would it do for your soul? The greater miracle is a man drawn to God without wonders, a family made whole by patience, by love of virtue, by crying out not merely for relief, but for holiness.
You are working day by day. This, right now, is the arena of your victory. Can the devil bind your tongue from giving thanks? Can he bind your feet from walking to church? Can he prevent you from displaying a heart that trusts the Father even when the bills are beyond paying? He cannot, unless you let him. Paul was bound in chains, and his disciples waxed the more confident. Why? Because they saw the Preaching was not hindered. You cannot put the tongue in bonds; hereby chiefly it runs. Your true freedom, the mountain top you seek, is not a life without worry, but a soul so fixed on God that no bill, no family strife, can drag it down.
You say you love God because He gave His Son for your salvation. Then grasp this: that salvation is the great miracle already granted. The debts of your sin are paid in full by a price far greater than silver. Does He not care for your daily bread? He who turned water to wine, He who showed His power to provide for His disciples, knows your need for food and shelter. But His first work is to make you a man after His own heart, as He did with David while he was yet young and without a single miracle to his name.
Therefore, cease asking for the sign of a sudden financial blessing as the proof of His love. Instead, pray this: “Father, in this valley, give me the grace to endure. Let my family see a father, a grandfather, who trusts You when there is no earthly help in sight. Let us, even in our unhappiness and inability to help each other materially, learn to serve one another in love. This is the mountain top: to stand firm when the floods come. This is the greater miracle. This will put the devil to flight more than any bag of gold. I will not ask Him to grant your wish for a dream of ease, but I will ask Him to grant you the dream of a faithful, steadfast heart, that you and your house may be truly free, for if the Son makes you free, you are free indeed, even in the valley.
You fear the old devil is trying to destroy your family, and indeed he assaults you. But he assaults you because he sees the potential for a great victory. Do you not know that the miracles, except we be sober, can even do harm? Many who received them were carried away with pride, aiming at the wealth and glory the miracles bring, and so perished. A sudden flood of money to pay all your debts in full might release your body from a creditor’s letter, but what would it do for your soul? The greater miracle is a man drawn to God without wonders, a family made whole by patience, by love of virtue, by crying out not merely for relief, but for holiness.
You are working day by day. This, right now, is the arena of your victory. Can the devil bind your tongue from giving thanks? Can he bind your feet from walking to church? Can he prevent you from displaying a heart that trusts the Father even when the bills are beyond paying? He cannot, unless you let him. Paul was bound in chains, and his disciples waxed the more confident. Why? Because they saw the Preaching was not hindered. You cannot put the tongue in bonds; hereby chiefly it runs. Your true freedom, the mountain top you seek, is not a life without worry, but a soul so fixed on God that no bill, no family strife, can drag it down.
You say you love God because He gave His Son for your salvation. Then grasp this: that salvation is the great miracle already granted. The debts of your sin are paid in full by a price far greater than silver. Does He not care for your daily bread? He who turned water to wine, He who showed His power to provide for His disciples, knows your need for food and shelter. But His first work is to make you a man after His own heart, as He did with David while he was yet young and without a single miracle to his name.
Therefore, cease asking for the sign of a sudden financial blessing as the proof of His love. Instead, pray this: “Father, in this valley, give me the grace to endure. Let my family see a father, a grandfather, who trusts You when there is no earthly help in sight. Let us, even in our unhappiness and inability to help each other materially, learn to serve one another in love. This is the mountain top: to stand firm when the floods come. This is the greater miracle. This will put the devil to flight more than any bag of gold. I will not ask Him to grant your wish for a dream of ease, but I will ask Him to grant you the dream of a faithful, steadfast heart, that you and your house may be truly free, for if the Son makes you free, you are free indeed, even in the valley.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
