miracles

World of Wonders

“If we would venture more upon the naked promise of God, we would enter a world of wonders to which we are yet strangers.” – Charles Spurgeon

It’s a great quote by Spurgeon. Then we look at life and at the world around us and we ask where those wonders are. What are we missing?

Maybe it is the barely-avoided accident on the highway.

Maybe it’s a new-born baby.

Maybe it’s the sickness we didn’t catch.

Maybe it is the peace we feel even when the task in front of us seems too big.

Maybe it’s our friend’s insight into a problem we are trying to solve on our own.

The Bible tells us we humans are just dust. Some call us “mud people”. Yes, mud people in whose life is the breath of God making us into someone he loves, adores, cares for, and nurtures. He takes us by the hand, leading us step by step. That, in itself, is a wonder! There is nothing too hard for God. He is the God of wonders, working them every day in our world.

Some of them are small. We have to be paying close attention to see them. Others are big -like when we get an unexpected gift that is just exactly what we needed, or someone we’ve been praying for is healed in a way that can only be be supernatural, or someone we love suddenly sees the truth of who Jesus is. These wonders do happen. Let’s look for them and then stand in awe at what we see. G. K. Chesterton said it best: “We are perishing for lack of wonder, not for lack of wonders”.

“Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,” – Psalm 105:4-5

Healing

God alone is qualified to answer prayer, and at some point we have to let go and trust God, who can transmute our self-focused requests into an unimaginably larger plan.  – Philip Yancey

Do you have anyone on your prayer list right now for whom you are praying for healing? Most of us do. We read about Jesus healing people everywhere he went, and we believe he can still do that today. And he does – sometimes. Often, though, we wait in vain for the physical healing to happen.

These are the times when, as Spurgeon says, “we must meekly bow to his will by whom life and death are determined.” Wait! Bow to his will when the life of someone we love is at stake? That sounds hard. And, it is.

But what do we learn when we humbly bow to his will? We learn he is loving, kind, and good, even when we don’t understand. We learn that his power is not limited to physical healing. Sometimes he’s working on something of far greater value – something we will most likely not understand this side of heaven. In the process, though, we realize there are some things more important than physical healing and, if we could see the bigger picture, we would not trade the spiritual blessing for anything – not even healing.

I have heard people testify to this very thing. That the sense of God’s presence, the knowledge that he’s walking beside them in the pain, and the confidence that his will is best for them and for those around them is worth the suffering they are undergoing. I want that kind of peace and the comfort it gives. Maybe the only way to get it is by having some of my most earnest prayers go unanswered.

“Though he slay me, I will hope in him.” – Job 13:15a

by

Extraordinary Things

“Jesus was God spelling himself out in language humanity could understand.” – S. D. Gordon

I don’t think we are supposed to live ordinary lives. Why? Because we follow Jesus and, because of him, we have a chance of participating in the extraordinary every day. There’s a great example of this told in the gospels.

Jesus was teaching, and people had comes from miles around to hear him. Some caring friends brought in a paralyzed man. They had come in through the roof because the crowds made it impossible to get close to Jesus any other way.

Jesus looked at this man who couldn’t walk and told him his sins were forgiven. Who says things like that? The religious leaders who were watching knew exactly who says things like that – they knew he was claiming to be God.

Then Jesus healed the paralytic, who promptly got up off his mat and walked!

And then we read about the reaction of the crowd: “. . . amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, ‘We have seen extraordinary things today’.” (Luke 5:26)

The One we follow still teaches – through the Bible, other Christians, and in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Crowds are still following him from all over the world. Jesus still forgives sins. He still is God who came in the flesh so we could be with him forever. He still works miracles. These are all things that should amaze us every day!

Lord, I want to live close enough to you to see extraordinary things – to participate in them, to know you through them, and to share, with anyone who will listen, who you are. With you, no life will ever be ordinary!

“We have seen extraordinary things today.” – Luke 5:26b

by

Miracles or Wonders?

“He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.” – Job 9:10

To some people everything’s a miracle: sunrises, finding extra money in their pocket, bumping into an old friend, and birds hatching in the tree outside their window. For others, miracles are phenomena of a time long past, but don’t happen today. Which is right?

The verse from Job, cited above, has helped me sort this out. Many of the things we see around us might be classified as wonders. Colorful flowers, the awe-inspiring Grand Canyon, or a wound that heals – these are wonders, part of God’s natural world. He made the world to work this way and we are the benefactors of his love of beauty, order, and regeneration.

But, sometimes there are miracles, too – yes, even today. They are events that occur contrary to the natural course of things. For example, someone being unexplainably healed or a prodigal returning home with a changed heart. These miracles are God’s intervention in the normal course of a disease, affliction, or direction. I believe these miracles are his way of giving us a glimpse of how it will be when the world is eventually restored to its original perfection.

Miracles are miracles, not because they are part of the natural order, but because they interrupt it. But that interruption is not guaranteed. God loves having us trust him enough to ask, but only he decides when and how he will respond to our prayer.

So, while we pray for the miracle we so desparately desire, we can continue to enjoy the wonders of God that surround us every day. They are his gifts to us, too!

“Believe in miracles, but don’t put your faith in miracles. Put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.” – Adrian Rogers

by

It’s personal!

“You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. – Psalm 139:5

If I were in Jesus’ sandals in the 1st Century, I might have been a bit more organized. For example, I would’ve had all the demon-possessed move to one side of the beach and all the sick and disabled on the other. Then I would’ve cast out all the demons with just one prayer, turning my attention to the sick with an instant healing for all. Jesus could have left this earth with every disease in Israel healed. But he didn’t.

He had his own way: Choosing to heal, forgive, and free from bondage – person-by-person. Even the bleeding woman who touched Jesus secretly was called out so he could look her in the eye, commend her faith, and tell her to go in peace. He actually permitted an argument from the Syro-Phoenician woman and engaged in conversations about requests for others with Jairus and the Roman Centurion.

Then there was the paralytic let down through the roof, blind Bartimaeus, the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda – these were all relational, eye-to-eye encounters. Jesus was doing more than healing: He was fixing the brokenness that didn’t show on the outside.

You and I have some of those kinds of needs, too – the ones inside that we  hide, don’t really want to deal with, or maybe just don’t realize we have. Jesus knows all of it and hears our prayers. But he responds in ways that give us what we really need – sometimes what we ask for, often something even better. With Jesus it’s always personal.

“I need to show Jesus my brokenness – show Him my wounds – and let Him touch them. Let Him cradle my heart in His hands and say, ‘I do will it. Be made clean.’.”*

 

*from  https://beautybeyondbones.com/2018/02/12/an-ashy-valentines-day/

#miracles #prayer