Do You Believe in Miracles?

The Webster dictionary defines it as "something wonderful; a wonder, a marvelous thing, something which seems to go beyond the known laws of nature and is held to be the act of a supernatural being; a supernatural event." Observers of miracles knew they had seen or heard something out of the ordinary, something that may help them or in its greatness could even be threatening to them. But miracles, apart form God, can not occur. In fact, when you ask "are miracles possible" you are really asking "Is there a God?"

Yesterday, in our Sunday School class, we examined different miracles in the Bible. My group was asked to examine the miracle that occured with Elijah and the poor widow and her son. This is found in I Kings 17:13-16. Elijah instructed her to take the last of her provisions and make a small cake to bring to him and then afterward make some for herself and her son. Elijah told her that the bin flour and the jar of oil shall not be used up until the Lord brought rain and it was so. This was according to the word that God spoke to Elijah. So what would skeptics say about the miracles in the Bible?

Does God perform miracles today?

Yes, I do believe the Lord is doing and will continue to do miracles in our world. They are part of His great compassion of love towards us. They flow from Him without our permission and without our understanding. Miracles are not proofs of His power, but proof of His love. He simply loves us and gives us His miracles as He wills. It is truly amazing.

I witnessed a miracle when our son was born. Birth itself is a miracle but two years after my son was born God revealed a miracle to me that actually occurred at the time of my son's birth. My child comes from a long line of large heads - hubby and I have one, my father and grandfather have one - so it is only natural that my son would be born with a large one as well. Needless to say, after 18 hours of hard labor - we made a decision to have a c-section. Amazingly, even though I had to be put to sleep for it and miss my son's entrance into the world, I was at peace with it. Later, I would learn why.

Fast forward two years later - each time we went into the pediatrician's office, my precious baby was off the growth chart - yes, even his head. If you know us, this shouldn't come as a surprise. We are not petite people. But when our son was nearly two, his pediatrician grew concerned that he had hydrocephalus - but how could this be - my child was ahead developmentally and had talked in complete sentences since his first birthday. How could anything be wrong? A head CT scan would determine if everything was okay. So we complied.

The results came in and ALL that they found was a cyst or brain bleed on the left side of his brain. No problem, his pediatricians said, "We'll watch it for six months - do another scan in six months - and see if there is any change. WHAT? Sorry, doc, what first time mother is going to sit idly by and wait six months to see if something happens. I had asked to be referred to a neurologist but was told that it would be six months before we could get in to see a pediatric specialist since this was not urgent?

At the time, I was teaching Kindergarten in public schools and I had the son of a Nascar Driver whose wife was a former nurse. When I shared this with her, she told me to go to radiology at the hospital - sign out the xrays - and bring them to her. I did and she took them to Nascar's neurologist for him to examine. Two days later, the neurologist called me at school and without knowing the circumstances of our son's birth - named ALL of the conditions of our son's birth. And then he said words that I will never forget, "Had your son been born without a c-section, he would have been born with cerebral palsy."

You see, that day I learned of a miracle that God performed at the time of our son's birth. One that without our doctor's prompting for a CT scan - I would have never known about. If you know our son, it would be hard to imagine him any other way. Each time, I see him run, swim, play baseball, dance - I am reminded of what could have been and I am also reminded that my God still does miracles everyday.

If you or someone you love is eagerly awaiting a miracle of healing from God, remember that His answers may not come in a way that we can immediately recognize. After all, we weren't even aware this miracle had taken place until God allowed it to be revealed to us. But I BELIEVE in miracles - do you?

Have a great day in HIM!

Kim