Day 22 – Road Signs (Rich Snoddy)

Experiencing a Personal Miracle

I think about why we don’t see many miracles today in our church (Grace Church). Maybe they are not advertised or maybe we do not properly recognize them as miracles (our standard is too high). I know of some things going on in people’s lives that make my heart cry out to God for them. But these are simple things that usually we, in our culture, just put up with, get a pill for, get a program for or read a book for. But if we are God’s people, those of His choosing, then why don’t we see God do things for us? Certainly we all will die and even if God brings us back to life (this life), we have just been granted the opportunity to die again and, in the process, bring more life to the Body.

God is obviously the source of all miracles; they are not done by our choosing. God, like a good parent, will not always give us everything we ask for, but there do seem to be a few areas of special interest, or maybe even a guarantee. Certainly one guaranteed miracle is salvation. But how about the condition of our hearts (Ps 34:18, Ps 147:3, Isa 61:1)? I know that the greatest healing that I have ever experienced has been the healing of a wounded, sick heart. But really, isn’t anything that God does a miracle? Even when he “just” listens to us or talks to us.

Did the widow have to wait until everything was gone to ask for help? She obviously had been lacking income for a long time since all she had was gone. And even then, she was willing to handle starvation and only when it got to having her sons go into slavery did she turn to others (other than loan sharks) for help. Did God help her because of who her husband was? (Deut10:18, Ps. 68:5) I think that part of getting a miracle from God comes through the working of his Body, which is why we have to be willing to let someone else in on the problem. God wants the whole body to be built up, both the giver and the receiver. (Matt. 7:7-11, Luke 6:38)