3. Miracles are not a report card on our faith.
The Bible is full of faithful men and women never miraculously healed or rescued.
Look at Paul. Paul had rock solid faith and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. He was no stranger to miracles. God had blinded Paul and then restored his vision, opened prison doors and even given Paul miraculous power to heal others.
And yet, God did not miraculously take the thorn from Paul’s flesh. Though Paul prayed for it, that miracle never came. Instead, Paul learned about sustaining grace.
Miracles are not a report card on our faith. Perhaps sustaining grace better reflects the faith God sees in us.
4. Miracles never define God’s character.
Maybe you’ve thought, “If there really is a God, and He really is good, then He will answer my prayer.” But we can’t use an ultimatum to prove or disprove God and His character.
God declared who He is in the Bible. He’s revealed Himself as sovereign, as good and as loving beyond our comprehension.
That’s true regardless of whether God gives us a miracle.
“But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!” (Romans 5:8) Christ’s death and resurrection proved once and for all that He is God, He is sovereign over every circumstance and He loves us.
5. Miracles are not the answer to suffering; God is.
What if God had done the miracle we had prayed for and restored Dan’s life? What then?
Well, we would have celebrated! We would have skipped all the grief and been able to resume life as we knew it.
Temporarily.
While miracles may alleviate some of the suffering in this life, God has a far greater gift for us. The greatest miracle is that Jesus entered time, was born a baby, lived out a sinless life, died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected to new life.
We often want our miracle and forget the miracle God has done.
The gospel is the miracle we all need. It’s the only miracle that can alleviate all suffering for all time for those who believe.
We did not get the miracle we wanted, but God did answer my prayer. That morning, with rescue working on Dan, I’d paced my living room begging for God’s mercy. Over and over and out loud I asked God to be merciful to us.
While God’s mercy has not looked like what I wanted, it has been more than enough to carry us in grief and into the Chapter 2 He has for us.
This post first appeared at ibelieve.com, published with permission.
