Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out for fear. But immediately he spoke to them, saying, “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.”
What is a miracle?
Merriam-Webster tells us that a miracle is “an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs.” Strictly speaking, a miracle is something we can explain only by attributing it directly to God. Miracles are signs of God's presence in this world.
This is why miracles matter to most people of faith. We want to see God's presence, feel God's presence, and know that He is near. Certainly I desire this daily, for it is a reassurance that God has not turned His back on me.
Yet the desire does not tell me what constitutes a miracle.
Certainly Jesus walking on water is a miracle. The burning bush calling out to Moses was unquestionably a miracle.
What about when David slew Goliath? Was that a miracle?
We can easily point to the miracles in the Gospels. The times when Jesus healed the sick and the lame, or gave eyesight to the blind, were certainly miracles. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead was absolutely a miracle.
Was it a miracle when Jesus heard the case against the woman caught in adultery, and shamed her accusers into leaving? I dare say the woman, whose life was spared, very likely considered the moment miraculous.
Was it a miracle when Jesus offered “living water” to the Samaritan woman by the well? The Gospel of John tells us that many Samaritans were persuaded by her later testimony to believe in Jesus and receive His teachings. Surely that is an outcome we may count as miraculous.
When a man with no food, no money, and an empty stomach finds a twenty-dollar bill on the ground with which he may buy a meal, is that a miracle? When the homeless person, facing the growing chill of late November, is given a sleeping bag by a total stranger that he might stay warm during the winter nights, is that a miracle? Certainly to people in those extreme straits, such turns of good fortune are most miraculous.
Some insist that, to be a miracle, an event must not be explicable by the known principles of various sciences. If it is not “supernatural”, the argument goes, it is not actually a miracle.
Is this the right way to view miracles? I have my doubts about this.
I am mindful that Jesus rebuked the Pharisees who came to Him demanding a sign. Calling them an “evil and adulterous generation,” He promised them only the sign of Jonah—a foreshadowing in the Gospels of His death and resurrection.
I am mindful also that, in Deuteronomy, God specifically warned the Israelites not to put Him to the test. If we expect supernatural signs of His presence, is that not the same as putting Him to the test?
What does it say of our faith if we require supernatural and extraordinary occurrences to sustain that faith? Does that expectation make our faith true or false? Are we practicing faith or putting God to the test?
No doubt many have heard the old joke about the man whose house by the river was cut off by rising floodwaters. In turn his neighbors came by boat, by canoe, and even by helicopter to deliver him to safety, and each time he turned them away, saying “God will save me.” Eventually he drowned, and when his soul arrived before God in Heaven he asked God “why didn’t you save me?”
To which God replies, “I sent a man in a boat, a man in a canoe, and a man in a helicopter…what more did you expect?”
Like most “dad” jokes, it usually gets a mixture of laughter and groans, yet is there not also a subtle truth in the punchline?
Why can’t the neighbor offering charity and mercy to the homeless stranger count as a miracle? Why shouldn’t we count a doctor treating illness and saving lives as a miracle?
Why can’t our spontaneous acts of kindness and compassion towards others count as miracles?
Why can’t the successful outcomes of the work we do every day, and the benefits others receive from those outcomes, qualify as miracles?
Consider this: if we receive such good things as miracles, might that not also remind us to receive them humbly and with gratitude? If our faith is true, are we not well advised to practice humility and gratitude in every part of our daily living?
I am certain that we are.
If we are practicing humility and gratitude, should not every bit of good fortune be received as a miracle? Does not humility and gratitude thus reveal to us all the blessings God gifts us daily?
I believe this to be true.
Looking at the counterfactual, if we reject that moments of good fortune could be miracles and blessings from God, does that not inevitably harden our hearts, and ultimately turn us away from God and into the world? Are we not inevitably misled into dark and unproductive paths by such cynicism?
I believe this also to be true.
The miracles performed by Jesus in the Gospels are clear demonstrations that God has no limits, no constraints on what He may do. Yet not one of those miracles made any of Jesus’ teachings true. Even if Jesus had never walked across the sea to His disciples, His words would still have been true. Even without His feeding thousands with a few loaves and a couple of fish, His teachings would still have been wise.
Faith that is built on signs and supernatural revelations is a faith that is built on uncertain sands which will inevitably shift, bringing the edifice of faith crashing down. Faith that expects divine miracles for every challenge we face in daily living is faith that has separated from reality, and borders on delusional. Faith that demands the supernatural while dismissing the natural ultimately rejects God, rejects God’s Word, and turns its back on God’s Law.
In Hebrews, the Apostle Paul teaches us that faith is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Yet if we are to have faith in things we cannot see, we cannot hypocritically demand to see those things in the form of supernatural “miracles”. To have an assurance of things hoped for, and a conviction of things not seen, we must be able to look at the real world around us and hold on to the assurance as well as the conviction.
Faith without supernatural “miracles” is embracing reality. Faith demanding supernatural “miracles” is arrogance.
Thus my prayer is always that I will have the faith to see the miracle in every good thing around me. My prayer is always that I will have the faith to embrace the world around me as that which God has created, with blessings and challenges in such measure as He decides. My prayer is always that I will receive every kindness from a neighbor as both blessing and miracle, eternally humble and grateful.
My prayer for you that you also will have the faith to see the miracle in every good thing around you. My prayer for you that you also will have the faith to embrace the world around you as that which God has created, with blessings and challenges in such measure as He decides. My prayer for you that you also will receive every kindness from a neighbor as both blessing and miracle, eternally humble and grateful.
Faith without supernatural “miracles” is embracing reality. Faith demanding supernatural “miracles” is arrogance.
I choose to see miracles in every bright and beautiful thing this world has to offer. I choose to have that kind of faith.
I love your insightful wisdom, Peter! Bless you for expressing it so wonderfully.
“ Faith without supernatural “miracles” is embracing reality. Faith demanding supernatural “miracles” is arrogance.” Yes, “expect” and “allow” goodness from God - but you can’t “demand” it. Trust that God will provide, possibly in ways that you cannot even see yet, but to demand anything from God is arrogance and distrust. If you have faith in God, He will work things out in His own way, in accordance with His unfolding of time and events, and in keeping with His love for His creation. It is our earthly job to follow His teachings, and then just allow God to work it out, whether in ordinary pathways or through miracles.