The Day of Miracles

by Rick Blumenberg / @rickblumenberg

If any one of us were to see a person whom we knew to be both blind and mute, healed so he was able to see and speak, we would be amazed, even though, if it happened today, it would be by the power of that same Jesus of whom scripture speaks. To read about such a happening almost 2,000 years ago just isn't as remarkable as if we were to see it with our own eyes. The people of that day were no different than us, except that it was possibly even more astounding to them—after all most of them had never see a miracle—while to us miracles are common, everyday occurrences.

For instance, it is common for us to see people speeding around in automobiles, racing across the water in powerful speedboats or even out of them, (not merely walking on the water, but skimming on top of it at break-neck speed), and we don't even think about the miracle of flight because we are so thoroughly accustomed to seeing airplanes flying that none of us doubt there are people in them, flying over our heads.

If you went to any modern hospital, with proper clearance to enter the operating rooms, you would see miracles of surgery taking place every day. Doctors routinely remove infected tonsils and appendixes, as well as repairing other organs and in so doing, restore people to health. If most of you reading this lived under similar conditions as the people of Jesus' day, some would be blind, others would be deaf, possibly some would be mute, others lame, and probably some would not even be alive, but most of you are relatively healthy! If you think Jesus had nothing to do with this—that these are merely the miracles of modern medicine—you couldn't possibly be more wrong. The problem is not that we no longer experience miracles, but that miracles have become so commonplace we forget to thank God for them.

It was not Jesus' plan to stay forever on this planet healing sickness and diseases and casting out demons. Neither was it his plan to simply go away and leave us hopelessly in our pain and suffering. It is his plan—always has been, always will be—that every living person should throw off the bondage of Satan, bind him securely with the power of self-sacrificing love, and work together with the Lord Jesus Christ to set the human race free to be the people of God.

God is fulfilling this plan by giving unique abilities to men and women. It is our responsibility to use and develop those spiritual gifts and special abilities to do God's work. Some have the gift/discipline of healing through medicine. Some heal through prayer. Some do both, and both are gifts of God, given in different ways for us to use and thus accomplish the marvelous work of God.

I'm Rick Blumenberg and that's "My View...from Tanner Creek".