God of the miraculous

One of the advantages of taking a topic when reading the Bible rather than reading through a Gospel or another book is that incredible themes start to lift off the pages.

One thing I have been reminded of recently is that God is the God of truly outstanding, amazing miracles. Not just that but when God is about to do something significant, it is always accompanied by the miraculous.

 Noah built an ark in the desert for 120 years and God brought the water to float it. Abraham and Sarah were not just old but ‘as good as dead’ (Hebrews 11: 12) yet their one son (born to Sarah aged 90) birthed the whole of the Jewish race

. 

Moses, an 80 year old no-hoper, was so insecure that he argued with God 5 times about his inability to fulfil his calling. Yet he ended up leading a motley group of slaves out from one of the most powerful military nations in the world at that time. In the process he performed outstanding miracles including the parting of the Red Sea which led to the complete overthrow of the military might of Egypt. God miraculously provided water from a rock for approx 2 million people and fed these people morning and evening for 40 years.

They entered their Promised Land when God again parted the waters, this time of the swollen, flooded River Jordan. The Israelites then took the first fortified city they came across – not by military might – but by walking round the walls every day for 7 days and the walls collapsed.

And so it goes on; curses turned into blessings (Numbers 24: 10 - 11), shepherd boys becoming kings (Psalm 78: 70 - 71), mighty armies overthrown by the power of praise (II Chronicles 20: 22) and many more until we come to most incredible miracle of all; God himself giving up all his glory, majesty and power to become a tiny baby born of a virgin. This happened in an insignificant town, not in a palace and not even in a home but outside with the animals.

The Christmas story is full of miracles – miracle babies born to elderly parents like Zechariah and Elizabeth, a virgin birth, the glorious heavenly host revealed to humble shepherds and Gentile magi travelling miles to follow a star to worship a king that his own people did not even acknowledge.

He continually reveals himself today as a miracle working God.

Sometimes I think our God is just too small. We struggle to believe that the God who parted the Red Sea will come in and make a way for us where there appears to be no way. We battle to realise that the God who fed two million people every day for 40 years will provide for us and that the man who raised Jairus’ daughter and Dorcas (to name just two) will breathe life into our hopeless looking, dead situations.

Or that the same God who inspired 5000 people to be saved in one day can save our family and friends.  Or that the God who forgave Zacchaeus and the woman caught in adultery will forgive our sins. Or that the God who healed Naaman the leper will heal our eczema and so on.

Our faith is so small and yet our God is so big.

Let’s ask God to forgive us for our unbelief and help us stir up again the gift of faith that he has given each one of us so that we can come to our miracle working God and be amazed at the things he wants to do in and through our lives.  

Succeeding through failure

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Philippians 3: 12

Have you ever watched a baby when they are learning to walk? Their first attempts are always unsuccessful. They may take one step which the proud parents are thrilled about but immediately they fall and land usually on their bottom.

Undeterred they get up and have another go. They may need help to get to their feet but they don’t give up. Gradually they take more steps until they can walk across the room. Then they start to run. At this point they probably will fall but not onto the safety of a well padded bottom but flat on their face. It hurts and they will need comfort before being put back on their feet to try again.

The most important thing though is that they do try again. Suppose the first time a baby fell, they never got up again! They just sat there, prepared to stay there forever. The world would be full of helpless babies, unable to walk and certainly unable to run.

Unfortunately too often this is exactly what happens to Christians. They step out in faith to help others, to pray for the sick, to witness, to prophesy and maybe they do not succeed. Their efforts are rebuffed and so they sit down and don’t try that again.

Worse comes when having succeeded in walking in some of the ways of God, they try to run into fresh levels of faith and fall. Their pride may be dented, relationships may be hurt and they may be embarrassed but the worse thing is to give up and not try again.

Steve Backlund says:  Many subconsciously believe that success is not failing at anything, but the truth is that those who succeed most will also seem to fail the most. Any time we choose to leave our safety and comfort, and determine to “walk” at a higher level in Christ, we will most likely fall down many times. Those who are the most successful in life will attempt to do multiple things (with its inherent risks), and ultimately will have a greater list of “failures” for those staying in safety to criticize. (Ouch!)

There have been times when I have given a prophetic word and it has just been ignored. I know it was from God and would have blessed both the person and the church. It is easy in circumstances like that to give up.

Failure is part of the Christian life and it is there to help us learn to persevere, trust God and grow in our faith.  It helps develop our character and deal with pride and offense.

Let’s put off our past failures, rise up and try again; let’s not give up but persevere to success. Jesus is urging us on so we may finish our race strong in him.