This improvement in my vision I wrote about yesterday: is it a miracle?
I don’t know.
But do I believe in miracles? Oh, yes!
I believe in God.
And the God I believe in is miracle-Doer extraordinaire!
I believe what the record says about His miracles—partly because He’s given me the faith to believe, and partly because I’ve witnessed astounding things in my own lifetime.
I believe…
God spoke the entire universe into being (Gen 1). If that’s no miracle, I don’t know what is!
I believe…
by miracles God delivered His people out of bondage (Ex 13:14)
and through the wilds (Ex 13:17-18),
parted the sea for them to pass through (Ex 14:21-22),
and drove out powerful forces before them Josh 24:18).
I believe…
that in Christ He visited
and redeemed His people (Lk 1:68-69)
—and while bodily on earth, did wonders testifying to Who He was (Jhn 20:30-31):
turned water into wine (Jhn 2:9),
fed multitudes from multiplied crumbs (Jhn 6:9-12),
cured the lame,
the blind (Mt 21:14),
the leprous (Lk 17:14),
delivered the demon-driven (Mt 4:24),
raised the dead (Mk 5:40-41),
and lifted men to heavenly hope.
Miracles all!
I also believe…
God does not change (Mal 3:6).
And Jesus Christ remains the same, yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8)
So. He. still. can. do. miracles.
And. He. does!
The greatest miracle in any of our human lives is deliverance from our own inherent disease of sin and death (Col 1:13). If God quit doing miracles, no one would be saved, we’d all be just doomed! (Jhn 3:3,5-8). If He hadn’t done this miracle for me, I know without doubt I wouldn’t be alive on earth today to sit here typing this post! I was so on the brink of total destruction when He rescued me.
But what about the “signs and wonders” stuff now?
When He acts through my utter weakness (2 Cor 12:5,9),
so I find myself doing what I know I myself I cannot (2 Cor 12:9-10),
isn’t that miraculous, a work of God impossible with man?
When I find myself freed from some infirmity medical science still deems unconquered, is that not a miracle?
When I observe a sister in Christ healed in one evening of “irreversible” hearing loss, astonishing her doctor, haven’t I witnessed a miracle?
Yes, God still does miracles.
But He doesn’t always do them, according to our whims and wishes.
Jesus healed. But not everyone. He left crowds pressing Him for healing, to go preach the good news of humanity’s greatest miracle-gift offer (and need), redemption from the ruined realm of earthly self.
He turned crumbs into food abundance, but at no one’s demand but the Father’s. When crowds came clambering to make Him their earthly king because He could provide such abundance, He rebuked them and turned away.
Christ performed miracles born from compassion. But their greatest purpose was/is always to glorify God.
By miracles in the wilderness God brought both deliverance and disaster. The same Red Sea parting that provided escape for fleeing slaves drowned pursuing armies. God both healed, and sent, plagues, set some men on solid rock and caused the earth to swallow others. Not by whim, but for good reason.
And in my life, by His power, He has brought both pain and healing, marvelous abundance and devastating loss. He has healed and He has wounded. And both “bad” and “good,” well, it’s all really good. For Romans 8:28 is about Romans 8:29, and the ultimate good of the latter far surpasses easy earthly fixes.
Honestly, I’ve derived more spiritual gain from earthly pains and losses than from any wonder of healing or prosperity.
God knows better than we what we need, and gives it…
And that’s a miracle, too!
[Of course, one blog post can hardly cover this topic. Please read the comments that follow for more. And remember that every flower petal, every breath, every new day is, really, a miracle of His grace.]
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What do you believe about miracles?
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MORE REASONS TO PRAISE HIM: Each underlined phrase above is yet another reason (#664 – #683), in my counting toward “10,000 REASONS”.
[Soon: I hope to post about “When God Heals… and Doesn’t”]
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I believe in miracles, they don’t always happen when and how I would like them, but they do happen. And like you, I’ve found that the times of trouble are when i realize what I’m made of and when I’ve seen and felt God the most.
Yes, Alecia, that’s exactly how it has been with me. How wondrous it is to know Him! And to get to know Him better this way.
I’m so glad you came to visit and stopped to comment. Sweet blessings to you!
I believe that God is passionately involved in our lives and works for the purpose of his glory. Sometimes his glory is revealed in a more personal manner, just between him and a believer. Other times, it may be on a larger scale.
I do find some dangers in miracle seeking. First, there is the thought that faith leads to miracles. How many people have doubted their faith or salvation because of unanswered prayers? Our salvation has nothing to do with the experience of miracles, yet some use it as a measurement of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In addition, I believe that Satan is capable of using signs to lead people astray. Legalism is often shrouded in so called miracles.
Miracles may work as an attention getter, but they are no longer necessary for proof. We have God’s Word to point us to Jesus. It contains the proof.
Tereasa, I am so glad you mentioned a few points I forgot to include, but are so very important:
1) The grave error of using the experience of miracles as a measurement of the Holy Spirit in our lives. (A *great* deal of harm has been done by this!) Some of the strongest believers and greatest people of God were those who held fast their faith through never-healed disease or circumstances. And I truly believe (and planned to mention in a future post) that God is more glorified through, say, a faithful believer’s blindness than through a momentary inexplicable healing of it!
2) “Miracles” other than from God. I too “believe that Satan is capable of using signs to lead people astray.” I also believe there are a lot (yes a lot) of false teachers and prophets out there who “perform” false miracles to further their popularity, etc.
Good warnings! Thank you!
I LOVE how you scripture, scripture, scripture everything. You and Andrea Dawn give me so much food each time you post that I could eat for a week, but then, you post again! Amazing! I wonder how I can freeze dry some of this that I can’t consume in a single setting…
I do believe! Am on the run, but quickly…..two cardiologists were 95% certain my mother had “significant blockage” (their words) based on heart test and symptoms. MANY prayed fervently for her, and the cardiologist was both amazed and perplexed that he found abso.. NO blockage. I can attribute it to nothing but a miracle from God! And as you point out, Sylvie, surely our salvation is the greatest miracle o f all…..we were dead in our sins, but God quickened us, and gave us the gift of faith to believe in His Son and repent of our sins. He gave us the miracle of salvation. Praise Him!
Well, Dawn, I could take more blogging breaks! 🙂 (heehee)
Seriously, I am glad this is some value for you in this way. A blessed weekend to you!
Lynn,
Praise God for this special happening! And, as we both have said, especially for His greatest miracle, our salvation. May what happened with your mother have positive spiritual effect on doctors and others involved who may not know Christ personally, and lead them to find out about and know Him better.
Excellent post, Sylvia! He does do so many amazing miracles, both big and small, and when He doesn’t, it is a miracle, too – Him working for our good in perfect ways we cannot understand. He is so gracious to bless us with all of these things! Thank you for sharing all of this, friend!!!
Amen! The fact that we can breathe at this very second is a miracle. I’m always dumbfounded when an obvious miracle is called “unexplained phenomenon” by the lost world. That’s what passes for enlightenment? Unbelievable…
The earth declares His majesty…
I am catching up with you on my son’s computer as I have had the priviledge of being a live in grammy for a week –since grandbaby number 8 was born–holding an hours old baby is a great reminder of the miracles of God! each breath, a miracle, for by him and through him are all things…
Ah yes, Mary, it’s in being able to see the miracles in everything that enriches our lives so tremendously—even to recognizing His working in our *un*answered prayers! So amazing that He is so involved in our small lives and concerns.
It is interesting, Floyd, to watch the stammering experts try to give some explanation to the unexplainable. Like the several people I know personally who have been told that well, that previous test result report must have been a misdiagnosis, or the like…
Oh, Laurie, what joy! One of the best of miracles! I can’t believe you have eight already!! Enjoy, enjoy! (Good timing for this post, too, it would seem.) 🙂