Miracles

MIRACLE

An extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs

20 And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, 21 for she said to herself, "If I only touch his garment, I will be made well." 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said,"Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was made well

Matthew 9:20-22 ESV

As I was taking one of my seminary classes, the professor asked a profound question, which was "if God could heal one thing in your life, what would it be?" As I thought on this question, the superficial answers jumped at me first such as good health, winning the lottery, and Minnesota’s four major sports teams winning their perspective championships made the list. As I thought of this question more, some of the more deeper issues, desires, pains and regrets surfaced and asking God to heal at least one of them would be great, but it would have to be done under two conditions. The first one is that it needed to be done instantly and the second requirement, is that it would have to be how I wanted it fixed. Here are some observations that I have wrestled with miracles and healings

My first observation with miracles is that it always makes us question and define the natural and the supernatural. According to CS Lewis, when God performs miracles, He stays within the natural law that He created. Natural law are the rules that govern the universe, such as gravity, the earth going around the sun, and such things as centripetal force. Super natural law is where God steps in and does whatever He sees fits. Lewis is arguing that God does not break His own rules when performing a miracle. When God created the earth, He set it up within certain parameters. Just like rules for playing a particular sport. In order for a certain game to be called baseball, it has to be played by certain rules and certain equipment. That is the same with the universe, there are certain rules that God set up and that He abides by those rules. So the big question is that, is something truly miracle if it stays within the natural order of things, and plays by certain rules. I believe that God does limit Himself and works within the rules He created, but I also question of different stories where God made the sun stand still for the Israelites so they could win the battle. This is something I do not have a complete answer yet for.

My second observation on miracles is that there is always desperation. It is having our backs against the wall with no where else to turn. God is going to have to intervene because if He doesn’t, death and despair are already kicking down the front door and coming in to ruin us and everything we hold dear. We have said our prayers, fasted, and did everything humanly possible and the only way our front door is going to be spared, is if God somehow intervenes. I will be honest, this is a really scary place to be, because it really leaves us vulnerable and it might even leave scars, but God comes in on the white horse and saves the day. Our enemies are put back into their place and we walk off holding our heads and arms up high praising God and His goodness. These type of miracle stories are usually when people are down to their last dollar and there is still that one bill to pay. They go out and check the mail and there is money in the exact amount for the last bill of the month, or the bag of groceries are delivered to a family in need. Some of the greatest miracles are when we go to the doctors office and receive the news that either they are or a loved one is completely healed and the doctors are left speechless. I am not trying to be cynical and make light of these stories, because they are really cool stories and it shows Gods goodness and love for His creation, but what happens when God does not pull through and intervenes. What is our response then to a God that is all powerful and yet chooses not to act. We have all been there, where we and our army of praying warriors have prayed, fasted, done everything possible, but we are or someone we love is still stuck in the same bad relationship with no way of getting out, medical diagnosis that is scary and that probably will be our demise, or in a job that we absolutely despise. Here are some different directions where we can go and maybe even I have been.

The first direction we can go is that we actually take Job’s wife’s advice and we curse God and die. We develop this idea that God does not care so why should we. Taking the eternity conversation out for a minute, we might think that death and whatever is next, if anything at all still has to be better than this. At least we do not have to deal with questionable relationships, a bad medical diagnosis, or a job that we despise. We want to call up Scotty from Star Trek so he can beam us out of here and to whatever is next. How often does depression, anxiety, loneliness, self deprivation , and even narcism accompany the thoughts of wanting to check out and never come back. Maybe it is our way of sticking it to someone (yes even God) or a group of people, or even thinking that the world is better without us. If you ever get to this point, reach out to someone you trust for help.  If anything else, here is the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1.800.273.8255

The second direction we can take is we take our ball and go home. It comes with the idea that if God is really all powerful and all knowing, He would of acted on my behalf and since He didn’t, I am forgetting God and doing it on my own. At least I have control over what happens, and I am not putting my faith and trust in some divine being that either can not or will not act on my behalf. This mantra, we tend to think that we sleep better at night and have a cleaner conscience because we have done everything we can. Life may not be perfect, but at least we can tell people we do not like where to go and pursue things that we think makes us happy and content. We try and become the master of our own destiny and we rely on karma to work things out.

That third direction we often take is that we become that jaded Christian. We still follow God, admittedly with some apprehension, but we are still there. Most of the time we are just going through the motions while saying and doing the right things. We have been indoctrinated enough in church lingo and culture where we know how to act and behave. In essence we are just going through the motions because we are waiting for God to respond to our demands and questions and yet He is still silent. We have a hard time trusting, God, those connected to God, and probably people in general, because we have felt we have not been heard and even screwed over by God or His people and there is no explanation or payment of said actions. Knowing from personal experience, this is the most dangerous place to be because we can often be consumed by hate, distrust, anger, resentment and even apathy. We can put on a good face, but in the end, we put up walls to protect our fractured faith and ego. These things will catch up with us and we will just become bitter old people who are unforgiving and are suspicious of everyone and everything.

The fourth direction is the most difficult one and makes the least sense. The direction is that we still place God on His throne and submit to His authority and Lordship. This is not always easy, nor does it seem very pragmatic at times. God calls us to have faith and to step out, but I think there are times where a blind faith is detrimental to our relationship with God and with people. When we follow the phrase "God said, it, I believe it, and that settles it," is dangerous. God does call us to walk in faith, but He also calls us to use our brains. I believe that God is big enough to handle our complaining, anger and even our rage, but at the end of the day after we have said our peace, do we actually follow God or do we do our own thing? This is where faith and trust meet and where rubber hits the road and where we walk in obedience. Sometimes the greatest miracle is trusting God by reaching out in faith and putting one foot in front of the other. So here are some questions to ponder:

Can it really be a miracle if it does not break the law of the universe?

What is our response to God when a miracle does not happen?

Do we trust the most ourselves, others, or God?

Do we allow God to work in our lives or do we try and take control?