What Miracles?

The Bible is full of miracles from the creation of the world to the parting of the Red Sea to the Resurrection of Jesus and all the crazy healings done by disciples. Makes the present reality seem a bit dull and empty, doesn't it?

I'm going to make a bet with you: The vast majority of the people during Biblical times never saw those miracles, experienced them, nor understood that what they were part of was magical, massive, and world-changing. If you personally experienced God's curses on the Egyptians, walked through the parted Red Sea, were guided by a fire through the desert, and also understood that what you were living was a piece of God's epic story, would you have made a golden calf and worshipped it the next day?


They were blind, and in many ways, most of us still are.


If you walked with Jesus, would you still doubt in miracles? Surely, you've heard of the multiplying of the loaves and fishes. There were four-thousand people waiting to listen to Jesus' teachings, but they had only seven loaves of bread and a few fish. Somehow, all the people in the crowd ate and were full. There was even seven baskets of leftovers! This was the second time something like this happened. Immediately after seeing this inexplicable miracle, the disciples followed Jesus into a boat:

"So they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread.

Aware of their conversation, Jesus asked them, “Why are you debating about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Do you have such hard hearts? ‘Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear?’ And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of broken pieces did you collect?”

“Twelve,” they answered.

“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of broken pieces did you collect?”

“Seven,” they said.

Then He asked them, “Do you still not understand?'" Mark 8:16-21

Do you understand? Do you have eyes to see and ears to hear? Are you sure you're not missing the miracles going on around you?

There exists a sect which doesn't believe in medicine. They will go so far as allow loved ones to die from completely preventable deaths because they feel if God wanted them to live, He would heal them. I personally feel that God makes everything, including the medicines that can so miraculously save your life! Here's a story I once heard:

There once was a very religious man, and one day the rains became so heavy and long, it began to flood. The authorities called for an evacuation, and most of the residents left. However, this man refused. He said that "God will save me with a miracle."

The waters rose so high he was forced to sit on his roof. It was then that a raft floated by with a neighbor inside. "Come get into my raft as there's plenty of room!" He said. The man refused. He said that "God will save me with a miracle."

So, the neighbor went away. The waters rose so he barely had enough room to keep himself dry. A rescue boat came up with workers inside. "Come get into this boat!" The man refused. He said "God will save me with a miracle."

After some convincing, the workers went away. The waters rose so high, he was floating with only his head above. A helicopter appeared in the sky. They let down a long rope ladder and called out to him. "We're here to save you. Get inside!" The man still refused. He said that "God will save me with a miracle."

The helicopter insisted many times, but seeing that they could not get him up the ladder, they left to find more willing survivors. The waters rose so high, the man did not have the strength to fight the tides or keep himself afloat. As the sun fell beneath the horizon, the man dropped down into the water and drowned. When he died, the man's soul went straight to the pearly gates where he met God.

Despite his original faith, he was now very angry. "I was a devout follower, and you never saved me with a miracle! You abandoned me!" God shook His head sadly. "I sent four miracles! First, you were warned with an evacuation, next I sent a raft, then a boat, and lastly, a helicopter!"

It's a miracle, not only that you woke up this morning, but that you exist at all. All of the factors that must come together just so you can be born, breathe, have a heartbeat, and even think are innumerable. When God shaped the sky and set the sun a certain distance from Earth, when He then formed plants and animals for the ecosystem and to sustain us, when He knitted your atoms with DNA specifying the shape of your hips, the color of your eyes, and the personality your soul would hold, He performed miracles beyond our imagining.

If you were able to ask a fish what water is, they probably would say "What is water? Where?" It is so intrinsic to their lives that they may not even notice it anymore. It isn't that there aren't miracles anymore or that they are small, maybe it's because they are so commonplace and numerous that we forget to open our eyes and ears.


What miracles have you experienced? What epic, world-changing miracle are you a part of at this very moment?