A woman from Congo-Brazzaville was plagued by severe migraines. On the day she attended one of our public meetings, a rain storm suddenly rolled in. While most of the crowd fled for cover, this woman pushed closer to the platform, refusing to leave.

My husband, who was speaking at the time, made the decision to continue solely because of her. After the meeting this woman couldn’t wait to talk to us. She said, ”With each rain drop that fell tonight the pain lessened in my head. I was desperate! I could not go on living this way any longer. When the rain came down it was like a cool, healing balm from heaven. The pain, fear and depression all vanished. I was going to take my life tonight if the pain did not leave!”

Though plagued by a chronic condition, this woman instantly found new life! What did she do? She brought her problem to Jesus. She was determined to get her healing. Like the woman in scripture with the chronic blood disease, she said to herself she was going to get what she needed! Jesus said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Scripture: Matt 11:28 (NIV)

The scriptures tell us of a woman who was stigmatized by a chronic illness for 12 years. Spending all of her money seeking medical solutions, she only grew worse.

Evidently she heard about Jesus’ miracles and made a bold decision—despite public opinion. She repeated to herself, If I only touch His garment, I will get well. Though crowded on all sides, Jesus knew someone had touched Him expecting to be healed. Turning immediately to the woman, He said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.”

This woman faced significant stress in life. She had spent all of her money, was ostracized by the public, and was critically ill. Yet, her thoughts led her toward healing! Her thinking gave her the strength to break out of her normal routine and find what she needed!  She determined to press through the negative obstacles and reach out to Jesus for her miracle. I want you to know that you can do the same today!

Scripture: Matthew 9:20-22 (paraphrased)

Let’s continue looking at two more ideas to cultivate your environment for a creative miracle:

#3 Cultivate your faith! Faith often defies logic and requires that we trust like a child. Faith is not foolish or arrogant, nor does it tempt God. Faith believes that God is not a man that He should lie. Therefore, faith takes God at His word.

The Holy Scriptures say that without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists, and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.

#4 Cultivate an awareness of Christ’s presence. Multitudes of people live in environments where they lack work, proper health care and money. In this environment the creative compassion of Christ shines!

Jesus was not just an ordinary man with healing power, He was God in human flesh. He was our model for life! He showed us how we can do the works that He does. Just like the little lad, bring what you have to Jesus and let HIM multiply it! 

Scripture:  Hebrews 11:6

Only one miracle is recorded in all four gospels authored by Jesus’ closest associates. The miracle of the five loaves and two fish is called a Creative Miracle.  Five thousand men and their wives and children were fed from a young boy’s lunch. When Jesus saw that His vast audience was hungry, He told His disciples to feed them. The perplexed disciples timidly offered the one creative idea before them—a young lad’s lunch. How do we cultivate the environment for a creative miracle?  Over the next two days we will look at 4 ideas to get you started:

#1 Cultivate your curiosity! How? Curiosity is defined as a desire to learn; a spirit of inquiry and an interest in others. I believe this miracle appears in all four Gospels for two reasons: first, a child with very little to offer took interest in others. Second, these gospel writers participated in the miracle themselves. As Jesus multiplied the lad’s lunch, their curiosity and interest compelled the disciples to participate in God’s creative miracle! Could it be that simple curiosity is the creative pathway to your miracle?

#2 Cultivate a lifestyle of participation. Allow yourself to get involved with God’s creative process. In this account, a seemingly insignificant child solved a crisis for 5,000 men plus their wives and children. A young boy with only his lunch! Could it be that this kingdom belongs to the children, as the Bible says, because children have the potential to receive all the possibilities that God offers?

Scripture:  Matthew 14:15-18, Mark 6:35-44, Luke 9:12-17, John 6:5-13

I remember one of our events just north of the Arctic Circle in the city of Murmansk. A hockey rink had been secured for our conference. The main speaker had only one request—that we never put him on a platform that didn’t allow seating directly in front. When I arrived at the venue just hours before our opening, I was horrified to find that not one chair had been placed in front of the platform!

I had less than 2 hours to find seating, and the owner of the stadium was not in the mood to help. Glancing at the platform, I saw dozens of risers stacked to the side. Seeing my solution, I directed the workers to distribute the risers across the open floor. The audience quickly filled them up just before the speaker arrived.

The owner of the stadium was so impressed with our innovative thinking that by the next morning he had filled the floor with hundreds of chairs free of charge! His comment was, “if these people wanted seating this badly, I was determined to give them the best!”

Remember: Sometimes the simplest solution is the best solution!

If you look on the outside of my passport you will see that I am an American citizen; however, when you look inside, it becomes obvious that I am a citizen of the world. And frankly, I have earned each nation stamp, as each culture has indelibly etched its image upon my soul! Whether I experienced success or failure, often in many of these nations a sudden crisis brought out my highest level of creativity!  I am a richly woven tapestry of possibility thinking! And you can be too!

First, SPEND TIME WITH CREATIVE PEOPLE.  Whether you are at home, school or busy at the office, spend time with “creatives.” These unique souls have practiced the art of turning chaos into beauty, and problems into possibilities. Maya Angelou says, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

Second, LOOK FOR THE OBVIOUS.  As the old saying goes…sometimes the answer is right under your nose. In other words, you don’t always need a creative idea—sometimes you just need to choose the most practical or obvious solution.

Third, BE UNREASONABLE.  Always give yourself a minute to think! Think beyond what you consider logical!

Fourth, PRACTICE MENTAL AGILITY. Being open to spontaneous thought is key to cultivating creativity. I dare you to break free from the rigidity of common thinking and everyday expectation! INNOVATION IS INSPIRING!

Fifth, SEE PROBLEMS AS OPPORTUNITIES!  Creativity is fueled when you replace the word problem with opportunity! ‘Opportunity’ is that moment when you decide that no opposition, poverty, or weakness can hold you back!

As a young businesswoman, I remember sitting at my desk after having just received accolades for a very successful business deal that people of my age seldom experienced.

The president of the bank and my peers thought it was amazing, yet I sat there thinking, “I’ve obtained what people seek after for years…but is this what I want to do with the rest of my life?

As I was pondering this decision the phone rang. It was a local Pastor calling, and I remember telling him, “Funny you should call right now…I am pondering what to do with the rest of my life.” I recall his words so clearly.  He simply said, “Let peace be the umpire of your heart.”

Hanging up the phone, I leaned back and thought, “Stay here? For the rest of my life?” NO joy, NO Peace! And in that moment I decided to pursue a second career. Perhaps today, you need courage to follow your heart.

Consider this: My mother-in-law always said, work at your career for 5 years, if you find yourself bored, then do something else. Her observation: boredom was the great thief of happiness. Life is too short to be bored!

According to the Holy Scriptures, King Solomon was considered to be the wisest and richest King who ever lived. He had all the power, riches, wine and women he could ever desire. He pursued the essence of happiness and his sad conclusion is found in a book called Ecclesiastes. He found only emptiness. His verdict on pursuing happiness? Who needs it!!

We conclude that he was searching for happiness in all the wrong places. If that’s so, where do we find happiness? Many have reached the same conclusion as Augustine, a powerful 3rd-century noble, who pursued women and wine. He said, “Indeed, man wishes to be happy even when he so lives as to make happiness impossible!”

Walking down one of the streets he had frequented before, a local harlot called out, “Augustine, it is I! It is I!” Augustine responded, “It is not I! It is not I!” Why? He had discovered a new identity for himself!

I recently read an article in the Huffington post entitled: Redefining Happiness in India. In the article a young doctor stated:

“As Indian Americans, we have grown up hearing stories from our parents about how they left India in search of a better life. They came to the West to create new opportunities for themselves and for generations to come.

The younger generations have found more opportunities, more amenities and more comfort. But somewhere in always striving for more, we have also become more discontent.  We have started asking the questions, “what brings real happiness?” and “what is the definition of a good life?”

She concluded that this is happiness:

– To stop constantly thinking of ourselves, and instead find joy in serving others.

– To look within for problem solving instead of finding short term joy in outside things.

– To share our joy by sharing with others.

One of my most important life-experiences came as I was helping Jean, a woman who attended our weekly feeding program. Our local city had issued a notice that she was to clean up her property or they would haul off all her possessions. What was so tragic is that although she owned a beautiful home, she lived on the front porch!  You could not even find a pathway through her home. Though she was a gentle soul with a love for nature and a concern for suffering people, she had a serious mental struggle.

Our local outreach group organized a team to clear her property—not an easy job since to her, everything seemed valuable. I remember sitting on the street curb, dirty from head to foot, picking up seeds that had just spilled from her pouch. And at that moment, a carload of young people careened by and they shouted, “Look at the street people!” Then I realized—they were talking about me! But as my eyes caught Jean’s, I saw joy—because someone cared enough to help her pick up her little seeds.

I have carried that experience with me to over 60 nations! Why? A well-lived life is a life engaged with serving others! If you are sad or depressed, remember there is always someone else who is sadder and more depressed than you. So go out and get busy interacting with others!

Then, as Jesus said, you will discover there is no greater love than to lay down your life for another! (John 15:13) The Dalai Lama said “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

True human value is not found in serving yourself, but in serving others!