Miracles

The other night I was meeting with some college students talking about miracles. We discussed the skeptic’s point of view, the believer’s point of view, and so on. After a while it seemed that miracles were not necessarily a tool of evangelism, it would not bring on to faith, but something for those who already believe. If someone doesn’t believe in God, than that individual will no doubt look for another reason for the miracle.
Here is the interesting thing that happened. We were discussing the early Pentecostal movement, and what seemed to be a great need of people to experience miracles. People in the lower to middle economic spheres needed help that they could not afford were looking for miracles. With this in mind, I asked, “what are miracles that you hope for?” The answers ranged from the unity of the church (pan-denominational), to reconciliation between family members, to world peace. I was taken aback by such answers, for they seemed to point to things that many of us desire, but feel as if they are beyond our control. They seemed to point to things that without God’s presence would be seen as beyond hope. So perhaps a miracle is something that reaches beyond our hope in ourselves to our hope in God. Perhaps our hope in miracles is what keeps us all engaged in the work and ministry of the gospel. I am not going to bring peace to the world, but God will, and so I work towards being a part of that miracle.
Perhaps, then, the miracle is not what we see, but what we hope to see and place in the hands of God.