Recently I was invited to a local ‘mic-night’ by my cousin John, who performed three songs with the last song, an old favourite of many by Jim Reeves, called Welcome to my World. The song inadvertently refers to a world different to what we physically see and how we emotionally feel! “Won’t you come on in, miracles, I guess still happen now and then”. It’s a love song from one person to share life, wonder and love with another!
Within that context I was watching a film that included a scene around a young girl aged 12, preparing for her Bat Mitzvah. Two observers discussed about the importance of faith in the context of culture and belief. They continued and one casually and strikingly said that “we all need to make some space for miracles to happen on a daily basis”!
I think everyone at various times in their life desires and experiences some form of daily miracle that for others might simply be seen as coincidence or just scientific interaction. How we define or think about the value and reality of miracles will differ for each one of us according to our faith, no faith and scientific understanding. So the question I want to raise and seek an answer to is: “Do we need to make space for daily miracles”?
Thank you Casey unsplash.com
What is a Miracle?
A dictionary definition of what might constitute a miracle is: ‘A miracle is a wonderful and surprising event, believed to have been caused by God’. ‘A very surprising and fortunate event can be called a miracle’. In Latin a miracle means ‘to wonder at’.
A miracle is a ‘wonder’ and suggests a ‘supernatural intervention’ within natural law and everyday events. Church history records miracles as representing a manifestation of God’s grace and an expression of his love and character as the one who performs such miracles.
However, since the advent of scientific understanding and historical criticism the whole concept and belief about miracles has come under severe attack and dispute. Some of the classical objections to miracles can be summed up in the thoughts of David Hume in his Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748) section 10.
His main point is that miracles constitute a violation of natural laws and therefore cannot be sustained. He also believes that any personal testimonies of miracles are very subjective and weak and often by ill-educated persons in obscure parts of the world and regularly over exaggerated. He also felt that any expression of miracles in different religions cancel each other out. He concludes that miracles cannot establish any truth-claims of the Christian faith and often do more to discredit it!
Hume totally rules out the possibility of any miraculous event taking place that contravenes science and natural laws. He does not allow for a God who has created and controls the forces of nature, to change it in any wonderful and surprising manner. By contrast any scientific viewpoint also requires great faith because science can be overruled at any time by many wondrous and unexpected events.
All ‘laws’ of science are never exact and will change and be viewed differently from one age to another, compared to a constant and unchangeable creator God!
It’s a reality that some religions do not appeal to miracles or associate them with truth-claims. Also no major religion claims a comparable miracle to that of the resurrection of Jesus. So any value of a miracle will be dependent on an individual’s world-view. If their world is seen as a closed natural order and laws, then any miracle will not be recognised as a divine intervention.
Biblical Miracles
Within the Bible there are a number of recorded miracles that represent God intervening into natural laws and science. Within the modern church there is still debate about whether or not miracles take place or have ceased since the days of the apostles. To have a ‘signs and wonders’ approach in sharing the gospel be seen as a manipulation of God’s grace! In the wider work of salvation many seek to include a more holistic approach in pastoral care, church preaching and teaching.
Six Miracles
At this point I want to look at six miracles that are found in the Bible with three from the Old and New Testaments and to note that some miracles are false with the intention of counterfeiting the grace and wonder of God himself.
1) Moses and the Burning Bush
When Moses saw the miracle of the burning bush he was instructed that it was to validate himself and his messages before Pharaoh and the Israelites (Exodus 4: 1-5). The bush was not meant naturally to burn continually. The Lord showed his hand in love and wonder. He wanted to ‘welcome people to his world’.
2) The Exodus
The Lord miraculously freed the Israelites from the slavery of the Egyptians to show everyone his authority and power over human leadership. God parted the Red Sea (Exodus 14: 21-22) and provided manna from heaven (Exodus 16: 4-5). He wanted to ‘welcome people to his world’ as an alternative to communities and people without love and wonder.
Thank you CharlVera pixabay.com
3) The Prophet and Widow
In 1 Kings 17: 8-16, we read of the prophet Elijah and the miracle of him being fed by the widow and then the widow experiencing a miracle of continuous oil and flour. In faith and within the realities of everyday living we are able to feed ourselves and be hospitable to others. Yet there are times when our resources run low and we have to reach out to the Lord for greater faith and practical provision. This miracle was within and outside natural law and science The Lord wanted to ‘welcome people to his world’.
4) The Miraculous birth of Jesus
It might sound a bit obvious but without the birth of Jesus there would be no Christian faith or worldwide church. Jesus represents a third aspect of the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There has been various records of miraculous births in different creeds and cultures that haven’t been substantiated.
We find in the gospels a record of Jesus’s lineage, his earthly parents, the Immaculate Conception and then the short life of Jesus, over thirty three years, in both human and divine form to bring healings and new life to all humanity.
During Jesus’s earthly life he showed compassion for the poor, marginalized and all who were sick and not well (Matthew 20: 32-34). Throughout the gospels and the book of Acts there are many miracles recorded that affirm his status as the new Messiah. The Lord showed his hand in love and wonder, he wanted to ‘welcome people to his world’.
5) The Miraculous work of Jesus on the Cross
Jesus called his disciples and other followers to consider a new way of living and to be empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirt and to show the fruits of the Spirt in everyday living that included various ‘signs and wonders’. His death acted as a punishment for the sins of the world, wherein we may be forgiven of our sins, only through the redeeming work of Jesus on the cross. The Lord showed his hand in love and wonder, he wanted to ‘welcome people to his world’.
6 The Miraculous resurrection of Jesus.
The New Testament writers identify the resurrection of Jesus (“He is not here, He has risen!” (Luke 24: 6) as the most important miracle of all in that it confirms his victory over death and it enables our broken relationship with a Holy God to be restored and so be ‘saved from our sins’ (1 Corinthians 15: 3-4). The Lord showed his hand in love and wonder, he wanted to ‘welcome people to his world’.
Thank you Jonny unsplash.com
7) False Prophets and Miracles
During the days in Egypt the local magicians tried to replicate the miracles of Moses and Aaron as found in Exodus 7: 10-11. They completed some forms of miracles but they did not last as they can never realise the power and wonder of God’s lasting miracles.
In the New Testament false prophets and teachers liked to use ‘signs and wonders’ as a way to entice people away from the gospel as outlined by Jesus in Matthew 24: 24. We note in Acts 8; 9-11 that Simon the Sorcerer, is a very good example of someone who tries to mimic the miracles of Jesus but has human limitation and only wants to deceive believers.
In the end times Paul writes that there will be lots of false ‘signs and wonders’ that emanate from the lawless one, rather than the Lord. There will be a number of false prophets that claim miraculous ‘signs and wonders’ but will be exposed and ignored. In Jesus’s day the Jewish leaders felt that his miracles were a result of him being in league with Satan, (Matthew 12: 22-23) and such activity was punishable by death, which is exactly what happened to him. The Lord shows his hand in love and wonder, he wants to ‘welcome people to his world’.
Personal Miracles
Over the years I have experienced wonderful and surprising events that that been hoped and prayed for. There has been other instances where I have had to just let go and acknowledge God’s personal intervention.
Just the other week I attended a gathering to celebrate a certain occasion that was organized to take place from 1.30pm to 5.30pm and it had rained continually in the morning and would be a total wash out if it continued to rain. I prayed “Lord show your hand to all the people present and grant in your mercy that the rain would stop”.
The rain stopped from 2.30pm until the end of the gathering. Most people would just see that as a coincidence, part of the physical and scientific environment doing its own thing. For me I gave thanks and acknowledged the miracle of God stopping the rain.
As a family we have prayed and trusted continually for God’s presence and protection and his provision and healings on a daily basis. We have received a car, food parcels, gifts of money, words of guidance and wisdom. We have found favour in work and relationships.
I think there are more small and quiet miracles that take place than the large and sensational ones. It is important to know the difference and in both cases acknowledge the surprising interventions of God that otherwise would not happen.
We are encouraged to seek, ask and find. We do not have because we do not ask. We ask in the name of Jesus, not as some magical formula but in simple faith and trust, that according to God’s will he will answer in a yes, not yet and a no!
Take Away
A big part of a miracle is its timing, nature and outcome. The resurrection of Jesus defies natural law and science. Miracles often occur quickly but can also be acknowledged, like hindsight, with God forming the results. Miracles always seek to exalt the power and sovereignty over human actions and desires. God‘s will often aligns with his created order but is always able to work outside it when required.
Today ‘make space for a miracle to happen’ however you may understand or hope for it. It may be understood as part of scientific action, human coincidence or nothing else. But equally we can expect and witness many wonderful and surprising events that have come from the Lord and can happen in different ways on a daily basis.
Let’s be reminded of the opening words of the song by Jim Reeves “Won’t you come on in, miracles, I guess still happen now and then”. May we embrace the Lord’s love song and warm welcome to everyone who wants to enter into His wonderful world, full of surprises and redeeming love!
Selah: (Pause to think calmly on what has just been read)
Check out exploretoinspire.uk for further Encouragement for Daily Living Graham
References
Miracles (New Dictionary of Theology). The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Bible Hub Questions and Answers
Explore to Inspire 
