Talking Point Tuesday

There are 28 more life lessons from "God Never Blinks" by Regina Brett. I'm getting a little burnt out and ready to write about topics I choose myself, so I'm just going to pick my favorite from the remainder and finish off the series.

GOD NEVER BLINKS: LESSON 33

BELIEVE IN MIRACLES

Quotable Quote: “Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.” (C.S. Lewis)

Let's talk miracles. There's a tendency to believe that God doesn't perform miracles as frequently as he did in Bible times. I know that I would love to have seen God do to the Nazi leadership what He did to Ahaziah's army in I Kings: "And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I [be] a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty." It would be incredible to witness someone like Mother Theresa being taken up to Heaven in a chariot of fire. And I know a few people I wouldn't mind seeing turned into a pillar of salt.

The dictionary describes a miracle as "an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause."

So does God still act miraculously in today's generation? I absolutely believe so, although not always in so flamboyant a way. His reasons for performing such public miracles may have been different in the past than they are today. And yet I have heard stories of miracles that have happened in the lives of persecuted Christians in far away lands, in the lives of respected friends and acquaintances, and I myself have experienced two events in my own life that can only be explained as acts of God.

I believe Christians occasionally overuse, or misuse, the term "miracle" to include things like physical healings that resulted from a doctor's wisdom or use of advanced medical techniques. An automobile accident that was narrowly avoided may be classified as a miracle, when another person in the same dangerous situation who prayed for safety before driving was in fact injured fatally in an accident. Surely God's hand is at work in every situation in our lives, but while He knows every detail of what life holds for us, I think it may cheapen the word "miracle" when we use it for each and every thing that goes right. It's similar in my mind to people who say to a parent who lost a child, "Well, she was so sweet God must have wanted her in Heaven with Him." Really?? And that's why she was raped and murdered? Some things go terribly wrong because there is sin in the world and we are given the gift of free will. And God weeps along with us. And some things go better than we'd hoped for because there is good in the world. And God rejoices along with us. And then there are those times when God Himself intervenes and acts in such a way that can only be seen as miraculous. How He decides why and when and to whom are things we may only discover on the other side. But there is no doubt He is still at work to fulfill His purposes in this world.

I'm reminded of the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. As they faced the fiery furnace, they said this to King Nebuchadnezzar : "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” They believed God could do a miracle, but they recongnized that He might also choose not to. Either way, they would trust in Him. Sometimes we pray for miracles that we don't receive and feel that God hasn't come through for us, especially when we see others pray for similar miracles and receive the answers they hope for. I believe our challenge is to pray exactly the way those three men who were headed to their death did. With absolute hope, absolute belief, and absolute trust regardless of the outcome.

Here's a little story in closing that was included in this chapter of "God Never Blinks."

A 21 year old was in a terrible accident. His doctor told his parents he wouldn't live, and if he did, he would never have a meaningful life. The doctor said, "You know when you're little and you ask for a pony, you pray and pray and hope for it but you never get it? Well, this is that same type of situation. Sometimes you don't get the pony."

Fast forward a few years. On the day his son graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, the dad sent this doctor a postcard. It simply said, "We got the pony."