The story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, as found in 1 Kings 17, reads as follows:

8 ¶ And the word of the Lord came unto [Elijah], saying,

9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, … and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

12 And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

14 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.

15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.

I’m confident that most people would consider the endless supply of food to be a miracle. But would you feel different about the story if a new verse was injected into the middle of it:

“And it came to pass that some guy named Joe snuck over to the widow’s house each night and filled her barrel of meal and cruse of oil.”

All of a sudden this no longer seems like a miracle.

Or what if this was added to the story of Daniel and the lion’s den:

“And it came to pass, that before Daniel was cast into the den of lions, behold, there was among the keepers of the lions a certain man, whose friend brought unto him a great store of cakes, even of fine flour mingled with sweetness.

And the keeper looked upon the abundance thereof, and said within himself, I cannot eat all this alone. And he brake the cakes in pieces, and bare them unto the den of lions, and cast them in unto them.

And the lions did eat and were filled; yea, they did gorge themselves exceedingly, so that they lay down upon their bellies, and were heavy with meat, insomuch that they did not eat Daniel.”

Would these still be considered miracles? As I go through my talk today, I want you to keep that question in mind.

To answer whether those would still be miracles, we have to ponder on it with the mindset of what God is trying to accomplish. We know God's purpose is to bring to pass the immortality and Eternal life of man. So let’s talk about Eternal life for a moment. It took me far too long to realize that Eternal life isn’t a rewarded destination, it’s a way of life. It’s the way of life that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live; it’s the way of life that brings the most joy and fulfilment. For whatever reason our mortal bodies and our inclination toward the natural-man prevent us from fully comprehending that truth.

Everything in the gospel: the teachings, the commandments, the covenants, the temple, it is all there, not merely to help us believe in Christ, but to help us become like Christ.

Moroni teaches:

“…pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, … that ye may be like him…”

(Moroni 7:48)

And President Oaks once taught:

“We are challenged to move through a process of conversion toward that status and condition called eternal life. This is achieved not just by doing what is right, but by doing it for the right reason—for the pure love of Christ.” … “The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.”

(The Challenge to Become, Oct 2000)

In other words, achieving the Celestial kingdom isn’t done via a checklist. I cannot say “I believe in God, I believe in Christ, I believe in Joseph Smith, I believe in the current prophet, I obey the law of chastity, I obey the word of wisdom, I pay a full tithe…” Check, check, check, check, check… Calling and election officially secured!

Luke 9:62:

“And Jesus said… No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

If you have your hand on the plough, that implies you are doing the work. You’re going through the motions, you are checking off those principles, ordinances and temple recommend interview questions; but… if you still find yourself looking back upon the worldly, upon the lifestyle of the natural man, you remain quote “unfit for the kingdom of God”.

The late elder Bruce C. Hafen claimed:

“The great Mediator asks for our repentance not because we must ‘repay’ him in exchange for his paying our debt to justice, but because repentance initiates a developmental process that, with the Savior’s help, leads us along the path to a saintly character.”

It is often asked whether or not we will be saved by grace, but perhaps a better question is whether we have been changed by grace? (Brad Wilcox, His Grace is Sufficient)

The scriptures are pretty clear when they claim that no unclean thing may enter God’s kingdom (3 Nephi 27:19), but let me be so bold as to add to that: no unchanged thing will even want to.

President Brigham Young says:

“Some might suppose that it would be a great blessing to be taken and carried directly into heaven and there set down, but in reality that would be no blessing to such persons; they could not reap a full reward, could not enjoy the glory of the kingdom, and could not comprehend and abide the light thereof, but it would be to them a hell intolerable and I suppose would consume them much quicker than would hell fire. It would be no blessing to you to be carried into the celestial kingdom, and obliged to stay therein, unless you were prepared to dwell there.” (Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, 95).

Alma describes it as:

“we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence.” (Alma 12:14)

Ok, ok, so how do we prepare ourselves? Into what do we change ourselves? Of course the obvious answer is to emulate our Savior. So, let’s look at his life. During his earthly ministry, Jesus Christ performed several miracles that defy explanation. But I think much more of His ministry was dedicated to small, personal moments:

He noticed individuals that others overlooked. He listened. He touched. He invited. He wept.

Seemingly normal, mortal acts; and yet, they were eternally transformative.

My favorite scripture has changed throughout my life, but while I was in my teen years, I claimed it was John 11:35. I committed it in its entirety to memory and I still remember it to this day, perhaps some of you have this verse memorized as well. John 11:35 states, “Jesus wept.” Why would an entire verse be dedicated to just these two seemingly non-miraculous words? Well, maybe Jesus weeping isn’t very miraculous to you, but to Mary, having someone mourn with her after her brother had just died, that was a miracle.

I witness that most of Christ’s miracles could be described as simple, or ordinary; and with these simple miracles He shows us that divine power is perhaps best expressed through deliberate acts of love toward our spiritual brothers and sisters.

President Spencer W. Kimball taught:

“The Lord [notices] us and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs.”

I hope that statement reshapes how we understand miracles.
Unlike Amazon, rarely does God drop blessings from the sky onto our doorstep; instead He delivers them through his disciples; through us.

President Kimball continues:

“Therefore, it is vital that we serve one another. The righteous life is achieved as we magnify our view of life, and expand our views of others and of our own possibilities.”

Service is not a side activity in the gospel; it’s Christian faith in action; it’s what true discipleship looks like. An honest desire to serve is evidence that the gospel is working in us. Service is not merely a commandment from Christ; it’s the essence of what Christ is and what he wants us to become.

There is a quote that says:

“There are many of us that are willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do little things.”

(Dwight L Moody)

Why is that?

Unfortunately, that’s more misunderstanding that comes from the natural man. Little things don’t feel dramatic. They don’t feel impressive. They don’t feel miraculous.

2 Kings 5 gives us the story of a man names Naaman. Naaman was an army commander who suffered from leprosy. He hears that there’s a prophet of God, Elisha, that can heal him, so he travels to Elisha. But instead of being greeted by Elisha, he is met with one of Elisha’s servants, who tells Naaman to wash in the river Jordan 7 times. Naaman was angry because he wanted the Lord’s prophet to come out and quickly heal him and he complained that the Jordan River was not as good as the great rivers in Syria. To Naaman, this didn’t feel miraculous. But Naaman’s servants asked why Naaman would not do such a simple task. After some convincing, Naaman set aside his pride and listened to his servants. He washed himself in the Jordan River seven times and was healed. Miracles are not defined by their spectacle.

Small acts require something that big miracles often don’t: They require us to choose to emulate Christ again and again.

They require patience. They require consistency. They require true conversion.

Perhaps this is why God so often chooses the small and the simple. One great miracle may remove an obstacle or solve a momentary problem, but a lifetime of small, Christlike acts removes the natural man. Becoming like Christ happens through daily, ordinary discipleship.

My good friend Gandalf the Grey once said:

“Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I have found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”

The Savior does not ask the majority of us to part the Red Sea; He asks us to love our neighbor, mourn with those that mourn, comfort those that stand in need of comfort, lift the weary, bear each others’ burdens, feed the hungry, and to follow Him, allowing each small choice to shape us into His likeness.

I don’t know how true this story is, but it still teaches a good point:

During World War II, a church building in France was heavily damaged by bombing. When the attacks ended, members of the congregation walked through the ruins to assess the destruction. Despite the devastation, they were grateful to find that a centuries-old statue of Christ, carved with His arms outstretched, was still standing.

As they looked more closely, however, they discovered that both of the Savior’s hands had been broken off by a fallen beam. A local sculptor offered to restore the statue by carving new hands. After careful consideration, the people declined the offer. Instead, they placed a plaque beneath the statue that read: “Christ has no hands but ours.”

To those in need around us, we become the hands the Savior uses to answer their prayers. If we saw Jesus Christ Himself hungry, thirsty, sick, or alone, I believe every one of us would immediately stop whatever we were doing and rush to His aid.

The Savior taught that this is not a hypothetical situation:

“For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

“Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

“Then shall the righteous answer … , Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

“When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

“Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

“And the King shall answer … , Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

Matt. 25:35-40

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf states,

"Disciples of Christ throughout all ages of the world have been distinguished by their compassion.... In the end, the number of prayers we say may contribute to our happiness, but the number of prayers we answer may be of even greater importance. Let us open our eyes and see the heavy hearts, notice the loneliness and despair, let us feel the silent prayers of others around us, and let us be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to answer those prayers"

"Happiness, Your Heritage", Ensign, Nov. 2008. 120

Let’s circle back to the widow of Zarephath. Would it be any less of a miracle if it wasn’t God who filled the barrel of meal and cruse of oil but rather someone who noticed the widow had a need and gave of their own in an act of loving service? On the contrary, I would argue it would be more miraculous. Why? Because more hearts were involved. More faith was exercised. More agency was used. More people were changed in the process.

That pattern, working through willing disciples, is how the Lord most often chooses to work. Throughout the scriptures, and throughout our own lives, God allows us to be his hands here on Earth. He could fill every empty barrel Himself. He could shut every lion’s mouth if He willed. But instead, He gives us the opportunity to choose to serve. In this way, He performs a miracle not only for the one in need, but within the ones who serve as well.

When we serve, we are not replacing God, we are partnering with Him. We become His quiet answer to a prayer offered in faith. What may look ordinary from the outside: a visit made, a burden lifted, cake shared with a neighbor, can be sacred on the inside, because it is done with Christlike charity and guided by the Spirit.

Jesus Christ could have spent His mortal ministry performing nothing but dramatic signs and wonders. Instead, He spent quiet moments with individual people; making sure everyone was cared for, one by one. And in doing so, He showed us that service is not a lesser miracle; most often it is the greater one.

So whose prayer can you answer today?
Who does the Lord want you to be a miracle for?
Not through something dramatic, but through something personal; because in the kingdom of God, small acts of service are mighty miracles.