Do we, as Christians living in the 21st century, really believe in the supernatural? And do we believe in it in the here and now? I know for myself it is easy to relegate it to the distant past. To see it as something that happened back then but does not happen now. But I simply do not find any solid basis in Scripture to prove that the miraculous, or major manifestations of the miraculous, are only to be found in the past. What I do find is that God does such things according to His own will and in His own time (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Philippians 2:25-28). Now there do seem to be times when God pours out more miracles then usual to make a point, such as the times of the Exodus and the ministry of Jesus. But that does not mean they go away or become negligible at others. Rather, God in all times and all places does what He wills. We cannot control Him and do miracles at will, like magicians. But we can never be really safe from His intervention.
One of the things that people often miss when they read the bible is the rarity of the supernatural. The scriptures are filled with historical soundbites that accentuate the miraculous and leave out the ordinary and mundane events that were more prevalent. So, generally speaking, I do not think that the supernatural is that much different today than in biblical times.
ReplyDeleteBecause the mundane generally get left out of history it is hard to be dogmatic about the frequency of miracles, but I suspect that other then times of particular importance like the coming of Christ you are right.
DeleteYeah, I do wish that my Charismatic and Pentecostal friends would not act like miracles and supernatural happenings happen all of the time.
DeleteI think the issue is whether you see the presence of miracles as based wholly on your faith or whether you see the will of God as an important aspect of whether they occur. If you believe it is based wholly on your faith you need to convince yourself that they are constantly occurring of you have to doubt your level of faith. I fully believe that miracles occur today, but making yourself totally responsible for whether they occur is a heavy burden.
DeleteI also believe that miracles occur today. My wife needs one. I pray for them every day yet have not seen one in a long time.
DeleteI have prayed and will continue to pray that God will heal your wife. I do not know and do not claim to know why God works miracles when He does and in the cases He does. My own wife though not nearly so severely ill has yours has suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for 30+ years. I have seen others healed but God has not answered our prayers for her healing yet. Maybe someday we will have the answers to those type of questions but all I know is I trust God even if I do not claim to understand.
ReplyDelete"I trust God even if I do not claim to understand."
DeleteMe too Mike!