Thousands of Tiny Miracles Everywhere

Friday, 6 February 2026

I used to spend a lot of time keeping a mental ledger.

There was a time when I used to look at my life as a series of transactions, something like: I’ve tried really hard and done these good things, so now I deserve those good things in return. I even bargained with God: I’ve been faithful God, so now I’m counting on you to deliver.

Without even noticing I was treating my daily life like a vending machine: thinking that by feeding it with the tokens and coins of my good deeds and prayers, I’d be rewarded with a good life. But life, and more importantly our relationship with God, isn’t a transaction. Simply put: you can’t bargain your way to Heaven.

The shift happened when I realised that nothing is owed to me.

Living our lives thinking that we’re owed anything is a one way ticket to disappointment. When I truly grasped that everything: the breath in my lungs, a roof over our heads, a full pantry, access to medicine and health care; were in fact all blessings from God, that’s when my entire way of thinking shifted.

We spend so much time praying for the “big” blessings – the clean bill of health, the sudden windfall – that we can be blind to the thousands of tiny miracles all around us. I saw a quote recently that went something like: “If all you had when you woke up in the morning were the things you had thanked God for yesterday, what would you have?” And honestly, once I started listing all the things I was grateful for there was no end to it. It opened my eyes to the undeniable fact that these aren’t just nice moments or cool things, each and every one are small, unearned blessings, abundant grace from a God whose generosity seems to know no bounds. Everything changed when I stopped thinking about what I might expect or deserve, and actually opened my eyes that all I’ve been freely given.

I’m grateful that I was ultimately able to recognise the mental ledger I’d been keeping. I look at the home we live in, my healthy children and grandchildren, food, medicine, clean water, and a life filled with every convenience and realise: I didn’t earn this. I don’t even necessarily deserve this. It was all simply given to me.

And suddenly, there are thousands of tiny miracles everywhere.