"Hi, how are you? I wanted your opinion on whether you think God performs miracles in the world, and if so why doesn't he perform more especially since so many people are suffering. P.S Can you pray for me to get good exam results
thank you." ~Cherise
"Thanks for writing!
I will certainly pray for your exam results, but don't worry. As long as you're giving your best and keeping God's will as your priority, he'll give you the results you need to take you down the path He has for you.
Now, on to your question:
Does God perform miracles today?
In short, I definitely believe that God performs miracles today. To answer your full question better though, we have to first figure out what is meant by miracle. I believe that a miracle is a direct intervention of God that goes against what we understand to be the general laws of nature. A more subtle way that God intervenes we call "providence", where He uses the laws of nature and gently prepares things to accomplish His will (like using the weather patterns to snow us in on a day He wants people stuck together or something). Biblically and historically, God's preferred method has been providence, specifically through the work of His servants, but we still do see some miracles today.
Miracles tend to happen more in areas where there is less confidence in human science and ability. I have heard from very credible sources of people being bodily raised from the dead in front of witnesses in countries like Haiti and African nations. Both Satan and God seem to operate more subtley in 1st world countries though. I believe that is primarily because we have grown skeptical of such events. Where fear tactics might work for Satan in Djubuti, in the US he prefers to pretend he doesn't exist at all. Similarly, with so much hoax and flashiness in America and Britain, God tests our true faith through His silence (or at least his still small voice - 1 Kings 19:11-13).
God has never put a whole lot of stock in miracles to change our hearts though. He has seen how quickly the Israelites fell away from Him even after amazing acts like the parting of the Red Sea. Jesus said "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it" (Matthew 12:39). When a man begs Jesus for a miracle to cause his friends and family to believe, Jesus says "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead" (Luke 16:31).
Why doesn't God stop people from suffering?
That's a really good question, Cherise! It's a long answer though, so I'll point you to a website where I answered it for someone else: http://jeffgrant1stblog.blogspot.com/2007/02/i-was-just-wondering-if-you-could.html. Feel free to write back and let me know what you think!" ~Jeff
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment