And there are plenty of these to choose from; parting the Red Sea, water turns to wine, the blind see, the lame walk, why doesn't it happen today? After all, if we saw these things, it would be easier to believe. Right?
Here's what I think.
1. It didn't happen that often then either. The Bible covers thousands of years of history. Most people in the world alive at the time did not see Elijah call fire from the sky. Most people did not see the Red Sea part or Jesus feed the 5000. So even if one of the greatest miracles of all time is happening right now, why would we suspect that it would be happening here in front of us?
2. We wouldn't believe it. I hear stories about miracles happening. About Jesus appearing or someone's miraculous healing. I'm inclined to be skeptical about it and think it probably has another explanation. Maybe they are happening and we are just refusing to see them. There was a line in a movie once, God is talking to a person on Earth. The person wants to see a miracle. God points to a tree. The person says that it's not a miracle, it's a tree. God responded, "Let's see you make one."
3. But here's the real reason as I see it. It is too easy for us to focus on the miracle and not on God. The wonder quickly fades and we are left with a sense of now what? The Israelites wandered through the desert with a pillar of fire leading their way. Every day manna would fall from the sky to eat. And still, they would question God's providence at every turn.
Sometime we are in a fix and we are putting it all on God. We pray for God's help and when the crisis passes we say, "now what?" We need to focus on our relationship with God and not what he is doing for us right now.
So there's not really any reason to think that seeing miracles happen all of the time would actually bring us closer to God. Soon the awe and mystery fade and we are left with a sense of "now what?" We need to focus on the blesser and not just the blessing.
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