By His grace, we can see the miracles. We only need to ask Him, in faith, to open our hearts and eyes. Lord, heal my brokenness that blinds me from seeing.
Here's where humility comes in again...
We know that before Christ Jesus healed the body, the person seeking to be healed had to step out in faith. So, they had admitted their sinfulness within their heart and believed in One greater than themselves. That's a difficult step for many of us. I know when confronted by my husband or another family member about my uncharitable behavior, I sometimes try to defend myself rather than admit my fault. When this happens, there's a period of unrest and disorder. God has shown me my sinfulness, yet I have chosen to be prideful and shut out His healing hand.
The times I do readily admit my faults are the times the Lord's peace immediately sets in and brings harmony to an otherwise negative situation. I know this doesn't qualify as a miracle, but there have been times my family would say, "Hey, it's a miracle! Amy admitted she was wrong!" ha ha
It is only by the grace of God that any of us can admit our sinfulness. Recognition of our shortcomings is a gift from the Lord. The day we stop recognizing is the day we're in big trouble.
Many in the world are in trouble, but the good news is that Christ's mercy is vast and neverending.
If so many don't have faith in miracles today, this may be the reason we don't see them as often. "...Jesus said to them, Only in his home town and in his own house is a prophet without honour. And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith." (Matt. 13:57-58)
Every once in awhile the media spotlights a modern-day miracle like the "Miracle on the Hudson". The story spreads around the world for a few weeks, then dies down.
Was the miracle that the plane landed like it did on the river so hundreds of lives were saved or was the miracle that Jesus Christ saved lives and healed spiritual blindness?
Do you wonder if the miracle really has died down in the lives of those who were involved? We would have to contact those people to see how/if their lives have changed. Have they gone back to their usual routines or are their lives bearing fruit from Christ's saving grace? Isn't that the true outcome of a miracle?
In this story, the news media were praising the pilot. To be sure, he was chosen for this day by God, though he tried to remain humble amid the attention. How much praise were we giving to Jesus Christ - the real miracle worker? Can you imagine if the headlines the next day read - "JESUS CHRIST WORKS THROUGH PILOT ON THE HUDSON. HUNDREDS OF SOULS REPENT AND BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL" Whoa! See this article for a story that didn't make the mainstream media headlines.
Well, that was just the kind of "headline" that the disciples were proclaming after Pentecost. Some tried to praise the disciples, saying they were gods, but the disciples would have none of that.
"In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, Stand up on your feet! At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, The gods have come down to us in human form!
Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker.
The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.
But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting:
Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them." Acts 14:8-15
What are the headlines we're proclaiming in our homes and communities?
Are we stepping out in faith to proclaim the healing power of the One True God, the Miracle Worker?
Recently, there was a chain of events downtown that led to someone's life being saved - literally.
Only God could have lined up the people involved to make this happen as we were all strangers weeks before. Some praised me for bringing to light the situation, but there was no way I could take credit. I just kept proclaiming the awesomeness of Jesus Christ and His hand in arranging everything. Of course, all the people involved had to step out in faith and play their parts.
There are numerous miracles like this in our lives every day. Lord, increase our faith so that we may see and believe in Your miraculous ways and zealously proclaim them to all!
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