Miracles

Deuteronomy 10:21 (ESV)

He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen.

If you’ve ever looked through the pages of the Bible, it seems that miracles are everywhere. Burning bushes, talking donkeys, floating axe heads, people being healed, and water being turned to wine are just a few of the examples seen throughout the pages of Scripture. Did such events really occur? Do they happen today?

People report miracles happening all the time. I’ve heard people say things like “every time a baby is born it’s a miracle” or “I was almost late for a meeting when miraculously a spot opened just as I was pulling into the parking lot.” Are such events as babies being born or parking spots opening up really miracles?

Good timing is not a miracle (like getting that perfect parking spot), but neither are all acts of God’s working in the world. Christians believe that God is ultimately in control. God governs the world and He is constantly acting, sustaining the universe, answering prayers, and working in the lives of His people. But these things are not defined as miracles; they are, however, part of God’s regular workings. In other words, miracles are part of God’s working in the world, but not all acts of God’s working in the world are miraculous.

So, what, then, are miracles? Miracles are, in many ways, contrary to the normal happenings of things in the world. A clear example of a miracle is Jesus turning water into wine. That’s something that just doesn’t happen. The stuff that makes up wine is completely different than the stuff that makes up water. Chemically, it’s impossible for such an event as water turning to wine to happen on its own. Another example of a miracle is a person being raised from the dead. On any given day, people just don’t rise from the dead. Such an event is contrary to normal, everyday experience, and it is contrary to the laws of nature (like the law of gravity or the second law of thermodynamics).

Another important thing to keep in mind about miracles is that they do not just happen arbitrarily or by chance; rather, miracles are caused by an "agent"—someone who is able to carry out or perform such an action—for a specific purpose. But this agent is not just any agent. The agent must be powerful enough to perform some kind of action that goes contrary to nature. Christians believe this agent is God.

But do miracles really happen? Do they happen today?

It ultimately comes down to what a person does with God. If God exists, as Christians believe, then it doesn’t seem at all that impossible to affirm that miracles really do happen in the world—even today. 

Dear Lord, we thank You for the miracles You preform today to show how powerful You are. Help us to never forget what You do for us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.