Do miracles happen today? Sure they do. Archbishop William Temple once wisely observed ‘When we pray, coincidences happen’.
However, in believing for the miraculous, there can often be a temptation to expect something slick and sophisticated to occur which results in the desired outcome. But that’s just not how miracles usually manifest. Truth is…most of the time, miracles don’t really ‘feel’ like miracles when they’re happening. It’s hindsight that tells the story.
Think about it…it probably didn’t feel like a miracle for the Children of Israel as they followed Moses across the red sea on a dry(ish) path. Only when they got across to the other side did the people understand that a miracle had just taken place. But as they were crossing, it would have felt messy and scary. Yet in the mess, a miracle was happening.
This makes for a very important point. Miracles are often messy. We can so yearn for the spectacular that we miss the power of what’s actually happening in the mess. It’s aways important to understand that ‘supernatural’ and ‘spectacular’ are two very different things. Most of the time, the supernatural is not spectacular.
Herein is a lesson. There is mystery in the miraculous. That’s where faith comes into play. God entrusts us with divine revelation to the extent that we are willing to trust him with divine mystery. You see, God is often doing more behind our backs than in front of our eyes. Question is, do we believe that?
Be encouraged. It’s when you don’t feel like a miracle is happening that you must believe that God is at work. He is. Miracles aren’t God’s way of impressing us. He doesn’t need to. No…they are God’s way of teaching us. For God, you see, the journey is AS important and, perhaps, even MORE important as the destination. We do well to learn the lessons. At the Junction Church Loughborough, I’m believing for more miracles than ever!
