Do you believe in Miracles?

“Abraham answered, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. Let them listen to them.’

“‘I know, Father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but they’re not listening. If someone came back to them from the dead, they would change their ways.’“

Abraham replied, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, they’re not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.

Luke 16:29‭-‬31

Have you ever witnessed a miracle?

I am not talking about witnessing the birth of a child or an underdog sports team defying the odds to win a Championship, but a real miracle at the hands of the divine.

Or has God ever blessed you with a sign that undoubtedly proves of His  existance?

I have asked God for a sign plenty of times in my life (I think we all have). And I have pleaded for miracles or in the very least divine intervention at certain desperate moments.

When all else fails, "brake glass in case of emergancy" right?

Last year for instance I had a toothache causing me the most incredible pain I have ever felt. That day (along with taking WAY too many Ibuprofen) I begged God for a miracle.

And when my wife labored for over 24 hours with our first child, I desperately and helplessly gasped some of the most heartfelt, scared and real prayers I have ever prayed.

When sickness or impending death makes an unwelcome visit in the lives of our friends or family members prayers are offered up, often even by the most doubtful and faithless person.

The closest thing to a miracle or a glimpse of the divine I have ever experienced was in witnessing the slow, and yet peaceful and blessed  passing of my Grandfather, Edward Reeves. The doors between the worlds were being opened to allow my Grandfather in and I  felt a draft of its glory!

God is most often felt in our most broken, scared and helpless moments!

Now I have seen many answered prayers, although the skeptic within me will counter that things just broke the right way.

And people I know and trust claim they were healed of sickness and disease However, the added presents of medicine, doctor's and even hope plays a role in recovery thus clouding the results, so I don't always know how to respond to such claims.

I have also witnessed some weird things in Church services that some would call miracles, that merely left me scratching my head more perplexed than before.

I have heard people pray in unexplainable and mysterious languages not their own.

And strangers have approached me with wisdom into personal matters that they should have no way of knowing unless God whispered it to them himself.

I have witnessed healings or were they hoaxes?

I have seen people fall down involuntarily under the weight of Gods presences or perhaps they simply locked their knees.

All of these crazy, unexplained and often beautiful experiences I have observed or had myself, but no, I cannot say without a shadow of a doubt that it was God. Neither can I claim that I have witnessed a verified miracle or seen an undeniable sign of His handiwork.

We are evolved! We have science!

We can explain and reason away why certain incredible  things may have happened and we can discover the roots to all mysteries!

We can throw a bucket full of doubt on the fire of the miraculous and simply discount the acts of the supernatural. Like the above scripture says, even if God were to raise the dead we would find a reasonable explanation that excludes the hand of the divine.

We ask God for a sign of His existence and yet He is actively involved and intervening in our lives everyday, yet we fail to see or acknowledge it. Sadly the miracles that surround our lives daily become mundane. We allow the excitement of our first  love grow stale, we let sunsets fade without admiring its amazing beauty and we let the warm smiles and greetings from strangers go unnoticed.

My wife and I had the most incredible group of people come hang out at our house every week a few years ago. We called ourselves the Misfits because none of us really fit into the typical church setting. We had dinner,  laughed and cried together. But the highlight of every week was when we went around the circle challenging each other to name a place where we had seen God active in our life that  previous week. It forced us to be aware of God and look for him in even the most mundane moments. And sometimes we had to admit that we felt Gods absence, failing to recall Him in our lives at all.

When you make it a point to actively look for God there is a very real chance you will find Him. Maybe not in a measurable or tangible way, however often times in a small sign like a tatered relationship mended or new hope springing forth watered by encouragement from a friend. Sure, instances that can easily be explained away if you wish to, or perhaps it really was God.

Because God is there! And He is more concerned with our well-being, our day-to-day lives and our sh-- than we are!