What is a miracle, really?

Dear Friends-

I hope this email finds you enjoying a wonderful summer so far.

This weekend, I had the opportunity to visit a dear friend who is experiencing health challenges. The blessing of that visit was her attitude towards her "condition" and how it allowed her to put the issues of her daily life into perspective.

As I thought about her attitude, I started thinking about examples of miracles in the Bible. When we think of "miracles", they seem mysterious and unexplainable but in reality, they aren't. Read the scripture below and reflect for a bit. Better yet, pick up the Bible and read a few more stories about the miracles that Christ performed while he was on Earth.

As you analyze each story, two important elements emerge in each story. Both are required for miracles to take place.

The first requirement is unshakable faith. My dear friend has it, the woman in the Scripture has it, and so does the girl's father in the story below. For the unbeliever, a miracle is that mysterious unbelievable event. For the believer with the unshakable faith, God's response was simply an expectation that was met.

The second requirement for a miracle is action (on the part of the believer). The believer seals his faith with prayer, planning, praise- some sort of active response that confirms his belief in the power of God. This action could be as simple as planning for wealth (despite being jobless) or planning a vacation (despite serious illness). Below, the woman's faith was sealed when she touched the hem of Christ's robe.

The very definitition of a miracle is having the faith to move forward and believe that your prayers will be answered despite not having tangible evidence. If you think about it, God performs these miracles every day.

We don't know for sure whether we will live to see the end of the day, yet we make plans. We don't know what calamity, illness or disaster will strike us at any moment, yet move about and do what we have to do. The act of breathing- and the body's ability to utilize oxygen, have it travel through the bloodstream, and excrete toxic gas from the body by simply exhaling- is a miracle that occurs thousands of times per day without us even thinking about it.

Yet, when "big" things happen like joblessness, divorce, or illness, we question God's ability to perform miracles.

Spend some time thinking about the times we were worried. Did the Lord provide? Did He heal? Didn't that difficult situation eventually work out? How do you see miracles now?

Enjoy's today's Word. Stay blessed!

K.

Jesus Heals in Response to Faith

²¹ Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. ²² Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, ²³ pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.”

²⁴ Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him. ²⁵ A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. ²⁶ She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. ²⁷ She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. ²⁸ For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” ²⁹ Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.

³⁰ Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”

³¹ His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

³² But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. ³³ Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. ³⁴ And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”

³⁵ While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”

³⁶ But Jesus overheard^[d] them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”

³⁷ Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James). ³⁸ When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. ³⁹ He went inside and asked,“Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”

⁴⁰ The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. ⁴¹ Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” ⁴² And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed. ⁴³ Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then he told them to give her something to eat.