Everyone wants a miracle.The words seemed understated and almost nonchalant in nature. I sat back and began to ponder about how most of us,when we face a trial or sickness, pray desperately seeking a miraculous answer to our prayer. We all want a miracle of some sort. We all want God to show up in power!
Life does not seem to be designed this way.. does it? If it were then qualities like faith, perseverance and hope would not really be needed.. all we would have to do is say a prayer and everything would be "fixed". Before long we would all expect miracles and eventually take them for granted. Life would take on a different slant. The need to overcome temptations and to wage spiritual warfare would be nonexistent.. prayer would be reduced to an incantation and God would become some sort of Genie in a bottle.On the flip-side.. if miracles did not exist.. if God never healed.. if answers to prayer were almost nonexistent.. then maybe all of creation would despair.. people would lose hope.. cynicism would run rampant.. sadness would rule the day.. God would become an abstract theological idea that had no substance in reality.
Tomorrow we celebrate Easter.. the day when real miraculous hope was born.. the day that Jesus conquered sin, sickness, death and Satan.. the day that He rose from the grave. Maybe.. in a sense.. that miracle we all want happened that day so long ago.. as the scripture says:
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.Maybe the miracle is all about discovering that new life that dwells in us.. maybe we need look no further than our renewed hearts.. maybe the miracle is in us? Not that I am going to stop praying for miracles :)
I'll keep praying for miracles, too, KB.
ReplyDeleteIt is such a miracle that we were created in His image. and that even though we all are alienated from him and that our nature is to be set against him, rebel and sin against him. And that through his mercy compassion and forgiveness, that we are destined to call Him Father and live in all eternity with Him! that he forgives, opens up our totally blind eyes, that once only saw and loved darkness, to see the light of Him who is Truth. the greatest miracles are not you know such as raising from the dead, the greatest miracle is not to see or hear, but that he wants to change our lives and take our hardened hearts and change them into love; take anger and selfishness into gentleness and self sacrifice! truly this is the greatest of all when it comes to miracles. to save us and make us like him.
ReplyDeleteI was going to write a comment, but then I read what Ruth wrote and that totally blew the thought out of my mind. The idea that it's a miracle that we were created in His image...I guess I've never looked at that as a miracle before. I can look at the fact that He redeems us as an "uh, duh" miracle. It's odd how I overlook the former and discount the latter. Something for me to dwell upon.
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