journey onWord with us

Do you believe in miracles? That was certainly a rhetorical question, wasn’t it? Of course we do! Then why do we live lives which rationally deny the awesome power of God? Sure, we are good with looking at the heavens and declaring, “Isn’t it amazing?!” or considering the birth of a child and saying, “How could you not believe in the miracle-working power of God?!”  Yet many Christ-followers live too much of their spiritual existence without capturing the essence of God’s power, recognizing answers to prayer, and, yes, truly seeing the miracles that He does around us. I am not only talking about major answers to prayer or life-changing events which God engineers, but the day-by-day protection, provision, victories and miracles which God performs on our journey . Are you intentional about capturing those God-moments which come your way?

It was a miracle that caught my attention last week and caused me to think about how we reflect on life. The granddaughter (Amanda) of a great couple my wife and I know went from seemingly healthy to virtually brain-dead in one afternoon. Her subsequent healing was even more dramatic, and the neurosurgeon who treated her was profoundly affected. After Amanda’s recovery, he stated that from now on, if he encountered a hopeless case, he would think of her (now fully recovered!). God answered prayer, did a miracle, and encouraged countless people in the process. It caused me to think of how often we pray without truly believing there will be a good outcome. Praying does not guarantee the result we desire, but Almighty God does choose to heal and do miracles in our midst. As a Christ-follower, living too focused on our circumstances and not on His power may cause us to miss God-moments … and yes, some miracles.

This morning in our reading of Luke eight, there are several instances recorded of Jesus performing miracles. He calmed a storm, healed a demon-possessed man, and caused the demons to enter a herd of pigs. In the same chapter, a woman was healed who touched the edge of His cloak. Before the end of the chapter, we read about Christ bringing the dead daughter of Jairus back to life. That’s certainly a lot of miracles for one chapter, and you may dismissively say, “But that is Scripture.” Yes, but it is also the never-changing power of Almighty God. Are we to assume that His never-changing power is not quite the same in our time?  You and I may not see any chapters in our lives which possess the very same circumstances as Luke chapter eight. We should, however, have our eyes and hearts open and tuned to capture the moments of God’s power, protection, provision … and yes, even miracles which happen on our journey. Without capturing them, you may find that these moments slip away while the distractions of each day dominate our thinking.

I have never looked to Albert Einstein for spiritual insight, but a particular quote of his was presented to me twice last week. It caused me to reflect on how I view this life. He said, “There are two ways to live life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle”. If we, as Christ-followers, are not careful, we can forget that our God still does miracles. The point is not to just look for miracles, but to live believing God’s power to do amazing work in and around us is never-changing. And when He does the amazing, let’s capture it!

As we start a new week, determine to live full of faith. When the Father does what only He can do, write it down, share it with someone, and whatever you do, don’t let it slip away. When the moments of God’s power are obvious, capturing them helps to memorialize the event — and will give us a reminder of His grace when the journey gets hard. Remember, He still does miracles!