Experiencing God’s Love through Small Miracles

My husband and I took a mid-term break along our beautiful Cape coastline recently. As we drove into the small coastal town, we were greeted with a welcome billboard and a picture of a pansy shell. Ever since I first saw a pansy shell (also known as a sand dollar) in the United States more than 20 years ago, I have been fascinated by them. I thought it would be amazing to pick one up on the beach, on my holiday.

So, I immediately prayed, “Lord, I’d like to pick up a pansy shell this week. Please give me one”.

Over the years I’ve often done this  ask the Lord for a gift, like a beautiful sunset on my birthday, and he has been so faithful in providing these treats to me.

Every day we would take a walk along the beach, picking up all kinds of shells. However, I was searching diligently for that pansy shell.

On the fourth day, I met an elderly gentleman on the beach and he asked me if I’d found any treasures. I said, “Some, but not quite what I’m looking for”. He then asked what I was looking for. I answered, “A pansy shell”. 

He explained that I was looking in the wrong place and that I may find some on the beach at the river mouth where there is soft sand. However, the rough seas and strong waves over the past couple of days made it unlikely, as they are delicate and can break apart easily.

The gentleman looked at me pensively and asked “How many would you like”?

 I responded, “As many as I can get, but just one would be great”.  

Western Cape, Witsand

 

He continued to study me as if discerning something and then said he’d be happy to give me one as he has a couple at home. He invited me to his house, along the beach, to meet his wife. When I arrived, I was warmly welcomed, and the man and his wife excitedly shared their stories of finding pansy shells and rare paper nautilus shells, which I hadn’t heard of before.

After I enjoyed chatting with them, they blessed me with a pansy shell – and a paper nautilus shell! I told them that I had asked the Lord for this gift and that he had given it to me via them.

As I walked home with a smile on my face, I thanked the Lord for his kindness and that He gave me more than I asked for (or could imagine – Ephesians 3:20)

However, I desired to pick one up off the beach.

On the last afternoon of our holiday, the wind was howling, whipping up sand that streamed across the beach. Determined to have one last look for a pansy shell, I set out on the soft-sand beach, while my husband sat in the nearby restaurant watching his wife on her quest. I crisscrossed the large area for over an hour, picking up many shattered pansy shells – signs that they were found there. The tide was coming in and I had to turn back or I’d be stuck on the other side of the river mouth. As I was about to turn around, I looked down and there it was! A perfectly intact, beautiful pansy shell! I gasped, and then just laughed, enjoying the goodness of God. 

I felt like a little child getting the exact toy she wished for on her birthday. It was such a sweet moment of joy and love between me and my Father!

As I walked back, I was reminded of Matthew 7:7-12

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

I asked, and I had to seek, repeatedly, and the Lord answered.

I’ve asked for many things from the Lord in my life, big and small. Not all of them were answered in the way I would have liked. I’ve learned that I can ask God for small, seemingly silly things—things that might not change the world or impact someone else’s life but can shift my own circumstances. He enjoys giving me these little gifts simply because He loves me. – Zendre Roets

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