The Gift of Miracles
All of us want to see more miracles happen in our lives. Miracles are often described as divine intervention, usually seen to be defying natural or scientific laws. Miracles make us say, “Only God could have done that!”What times have there been in our lives where we look back and say, “Only God could have done that!”?
“Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying,
“Truly you are the Son of God.””
If we want to see miracles happen, we need to:
See Jesus. We need revelation of who Jesus is.
Take hold of Jesus’ promises and invitations.
Look at Jesus, not our circumstances.
“The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”
Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”
But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.”
Water from the rock
How do hundreds of thousands of people quench their thirst from a rock? It can’t have been a small rock, it can’t have been a small amount of water. God changes the geography of a desert to give his people a drink. Usually when we pray we want a solution we can understand, but God wrote the laws of nature, he can break them.
What can we learn from this passage?
God wants to meet our simple needs
We should obey God even when he asks us to do something that seems ridiculous
What stops us from seeing miracles?
My relationship with God is the biggest part of seeing the miraculous happen in my life. If I’m not growing in relationship with God, if I’m relying on other people’s faith rather than having my own, then I think I’m less likely to see miracles. We see miracles happen when we choose a position of complete trust and reliance on God.
Are there things in our lives that are preventing us from seeing miracles?
Are we timid?
Are we lacking faith?
Are we arrogant?
Are we isolated?
Is there apathy towards the situation? Have we accepted the situation rather than contesting it?
As a community let’s see miracles happen. God wants to move powerfully. Let’s stir ourselves, up, let’s build our faith, let’s chase after God and seek the things we want to seek, and not let anything get in the way.