Do You Believe In Miracles?
As I was growing up, one of the things that convinced me to become a follower of Jesus were the stories of God’s miraculous power in the lives of people I knew. One of the stories was about my father’s healing from heart damage caused by a bought with rheumatic fever when he nine years old.
When my dad contracted rheumatic fever, the doctors told him that the that damage to his heart would cause him to be limited the rest of his life; he would never be able to play sports or to do any kind of physical labor. And as he lay on the couch, suffering from the fever and terrible joint pain, he was crying to his mom about the pain. She had done everything she knew to do and so she told him to cry out to Jesus. This little nine year old boy called out on the Name of Jesus and then fell asleep. When he woke up, my father was completely healed.
When my dad reached his forties, he was undergoing a series of testing. He asked the doctors to check his heart for any signs of damage from the rheumatic fever but they indicated that there was no evidence of any damage to his heart at all. No scar tissue. No irregular beats. Nothing at all. My dad passed away last September at 81 years of age but it wasn’t from a heart issue. The healing of his heart that God did at nine years old, he sustained for 72 more years!
What’s curious to me is how much of the church world lives as if the miraculous ministry of Jesus, or the supernatural aspects of the book of Acts, were intended only for a select few during the thirty years after the resurrection. We call this doctrinal error “cessationism”, which is the belief that the miracles ceased with the death of the eleven apostles. Not only does the Bible NOT indicate that miracles would cease, the evidence to answered prayer is all around us.
So why should we believe in miracles?
#1 - It’s about proof
I love how the book of Acts begins: “After His suffering, He presented Himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the Kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:3) The risen Jesus wanted to prove His resurrection to an unbelieving world. So He shows up in resurrected form to demonstrate who He is and what He has done.
We call the miracles of God SIGNS and WONDERS. My dad used to say, “Signs are miracles with a message.” These signs point to the fact that Jesus is who He said He is, and did what He said He would do. Miracles point to the reality of Jesus as the risen son of God. The world needs more than principles to come to Christ; they need the proof of the the power of God.
#2 - It’s about people
Whenever God answers prayer or does a miracle, it is not just to show up and show off. It’s because He has a deep love for people and He cares about our pain. Think about it. Wherever Jesus went, He was first of all attracted to the pain of those in the room.
Mark 3 records one of these events: “Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, ‘Stand up in front of everyone.’ ” (Mark 3:1-3) Jesus then completely restored his hand.
It’s interesting that everyone knew who Jesus would focus on. Even the enemies of Jesus knew that the person He was most likely to pay attention to in the synagogue that day was the man with the shriveled hand. Jesus moves toward two things: He moves toward pain. He moves toward faith. Wherever He finds one or the other, or both, there will be a burst of His compassion and power.
#3 - It’s about power & prayer
Early on in the book of Acts, Jesus makes the promise about the “dunamis” (Greek word for power) of God. When the Holy Spirit comes on you (Acts 1:8) there will be explosive power, which is the “witness” to prove who Jesus is. The Holy Spirit shows up in power. Romans 8 says, “The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.” Can you imagine God depositing His resurrection power in us and then not ever using that power for us?
If He has given us power, what is it for? Does God not still answer prayer? Does He not still move? Is the Holy Spirit still as powerful today as He was back then? Is there still a broken and hurting world that needs, not only healing and provision, but proof of the person of Jesus?
#4 - It’s about partnership
Actually, the person of the Holy Spirit is designed to be our partner in life. Jesus said in John 14:12 “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” Then a few chapters later in John 16:7 He says, "It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
The Holy Spirit is your best friend. He is your working partner. He is the active presence of God in your life to help you bear much fruit. He is also working to burst on the scene through the “charismata” - which is the Greek word for the manifested gifts of His grace released to a hurting world at God’s timing and for His purposes.
#5 - It’s about patterns
The plan of God was never for Christ followers to live a life based on mere rational principles. Yes, we believe in reason. Yes, we are thankful for medical science. We are not anti-medicine or against learning principles from the natural world. But Jesus never wanted His followers to live only in the natural. He gave them authority and power to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, cleanse the lepers, and to preach and demonstrate the Kingdom of God (Matthew 10).
This is the pattern He set for us to follow. Anything less than this aspiration is something other than what true Christianity was designed to be. I don’t know about you, but I still believe in miracles and I want to lean into all that He wants to do in my life and through my life!