The Place Of Miracles

SUN., AUG. 4, 1991, 6:15 AM
FARM, STUDY

The Holy Scriptures tell of miracles that I have done in the earth. I, the Holy Spirit, who speak to you in this friendly, helpful way, am generally not given credit for the miracles. Rather, I, as Almighty God, did some big ones in the Old Testament, and I, as Jesus the Christ, did some memorable ones in the Gospels. Those that the disciples or Paul did were ones I helped with. But the question for the morning is, What is the place of miracles in the story of My relationship with humans? What about today, as compared with Biblical times?

Basically, miracles show forth the power of God over circumstances or over the physical earth I have created and maintain. And yet, miracles must be rather infrequent in order that the earth be the rather predictable place I want it to be. So I must maintain the balance between stability and acts of mercy, for miracles are usually changing some situation in which a person or persons are suffering, from natural or expected causes.

There are personal, natural disasters. A child is born blind, either from heredity, from interuterine conditions, or from some happening during the birth process. As Jesus I see a man with this lifelong blindness, I touch him, and he sees. Skeptics would say this must be a psychological blindness, and not one of organic nature. Yet how can one have a psychological trauma from birth? Such an argument is spurious. I can change organic conditions. I just usually do not.

Having some previous sense of what I am telling you now, you are reluctant to pray for a miraculous healing of your leg. You do want the function back. You are reluctant to go through the rest of your life with this disability. Yet you do not pray for a miracle, because you understand these are rare… and that I will heal your life if I wish to, irrespective of your prayers. You are not a good one with personal prayers, so how about this as a discipline: three prayers a day for the healing of your leg? For how long? Until it is unnecessary or until you change the prayer to something more worthy. If I can get you to pray three times a day that will be a small miracle! (Yes, that’s one.)

Though I want the earth to be basically stable, I also love variety, and I know quite fully what brings forth spiritual growth. Remember that you are part of a culture that believes every wrong should be righted, every problem solved, and every disability corrected. You folks do not do well in accepting conditions that are less than ideal. It is not normal that your section of the country has had no rain for over 2 months. It is sad to see crops fail and animals remaining hungry. Other places experience floods and excessive rain, for rain must fall somewhere. Thus I hear prayers for rain and also for respite from rain. The Bible tells a story of 7 years of plenty (lots of rain) and 7 years of want (lots of drought). That was a miracle to establish Joseph so that he might show mercy upon his brothers who sold him, out of spite. It all seems rather silly, causing such hardship on many for one act of mercy.

So I’m saying that any departure from “normality” may be just variety or it may be a kind of miracle. If it should rain today that could be just an expected end to this variation in weather or it could be a miracle. If your leg should begin to function fully again that could be normal regeneration or a miracle.