“Oh my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then is all this befallen us? And where be all His miracles which our fathers told us of?” Judges 6:13
What is the measure of a miracle? How would we define a miracle of God? Are we looking in the right place? The first great miracle in a individual’s life, with regard to God, is one’s physical birth. That which makes it such a miracle of God is found in the Lord’s words to Jeremiah: “Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” (Jer. 1:5) David would even add on this subject, “…I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Ps. 139:14) The Psalmist writes, “…Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves.” (Ps. 100:3) That which occurs at physical birth is not only a miracle from the standpoint of all that needs to come together, and form a body, but also, the union of the body with the soul. When God created Adam, He breathed into him the breath of life, and he became a living soul. Adam was not just a miraculous, functioning body, but a living, eternal soul, created in the image of God. This is the first miracle.
The second miracle, which we are to realize and count upon, on a daily basis, is that work by the Spirit of God to bring a lost, rebellious sinner, to a true understanding of God, and a conviction of his or her “lostness” without God. The natural bent, and downward trend of the heart and mind of man, is always away from God. As Adam, in the garden of Eden, after he had sinned, sought to hide from God because of his guilt and shame, so today, the “natural” reaction to the knowledge, even concept of God, is that of hiding from God, ignoring and rejecting even the thought of God. The problem with this reality is that there are eternal consequences which come to bear upon the individual who chooses to continue in this attitude of faithlessness, and lostness. What then is the miracle that can be seen in the life of the sinner, who has even the smallest desire to know the truth of God, and perhaps, know God Himself? It is that quiet “drawing” of the attention towards God, towards Jesus Christ. Man, in and of himself, because he is dead in sin, is totally insensitive to God, and certainly repelled by any true thought of Him. But when God works in a life, He brings the individual to the place of capturing their attention. This may be through circumstances, or by hearing or reading the word of God. It may be by the contact with a true believer, in whose life the living Christ dwells. This “drawing” is designed to awaken the soul, that is without Hope and God in this world, to true Life, with and by God. A sinner, of his own volition, desire, or will, cannot come to God by his own resources. Jesus well said that no man can come unto Him, unless the Father draw him. Equally true is the fact that the sinner cannot turn to God, believe in Him, and surrender wholly to him, unless GOD performs a miracle. Paul calls it an act of grace, and not of works. The drawing of the heart to God has for its purpose, with the knowledge of the truth of God, to bring the soul to a conviction of his or her lostness before God. The sinner, before the world, stands as all others stand, without God, and thus, dead in trespasses and sins. But God comes, in Christ by the Spirit, to the lost soul, awakens him or her to the true reality of their perilous position, in order that they might truly CALL to God in their hopelessness, that He should miraculously save them. And this He will do, for He has promised.
Dear Father, Thou blessed maker of us all. Hear and answer us when we call to Thee. In Jesus’ name, Amen.