Look! There's one over there!

"God, who performs miracles"
Psalm 77:14

Seen any miracles lately?  I think sometimes they are hard to "find" because we call them something else.  Like "coincidence", "good luck", or "hard work".

Many years ago, I read that the explanation for the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21) was simply that it was low tide, and there was a strong wind, and while the children of Israel got a little wet, they were unharmed.  And I thought, "Oh, that's how God did that..."

I also once heard an explanation for the feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 14:15-21).  Jesus got the five loaves and two fishes from a little boy.  And someone said that probably, most people in the crowd had lunch for themselves, tucked in the sleeves of their robes.  And when they saw the little boy being unselfish, they felt guilty, and as the baskets came around, they added their portion, 'til there was more than enough for everyone.  And I thought, "yes, that sounds like what people would do..."

I have read that there are those who believe that Goliath (1 Samuel 17:50) suffered from a pituitary tumor that not only altered his growth, but partially blinded him, as well.  And I thought, "oh, so that's what enabled David to defeat him."

I'd always assumed that when the sky grew dark when Jesus was crucified (Luke 23:45), it was caused by a solar eclipse.  And I thought, "How miraculous that God would orchestrate an eclipse right at that exact moment!"

God can and does use ordinary people, as well as the natural order of the world He created, to perform miracles.  And there are many explanations proffered to help us to understand the role nature played in God's miracles.

Such as Moses encountering a burning bush in Exodus 3:2.  Mysterious and miraculous?  Did you know there are types of flowers that have gaseous pods, or oil glands?  In a desert climate, it's not hard to imagine one suddenly bursting into flame.

And in Exodus 7:10, Aaron's staff became a serpent.  The explanation?  Easy.  The same thing that Rameses' magicians used to achieve the same thing:  optical illusion, or sleight of hand with an actual snake.

In Exodus 7:14, the Nile turned to blood.  Was that really just the effects of the red clay on the banks of the Nile?  Or maybe a red powder derived from desert plants, or from the very bricks the Hebrews were forced to make?  Or just another trick the magicians used to show they could keep up with Moses?  Although it begs the question, if they had the power, why wouldn't they reverse the plague, instead of making matters worse?

And what about the plague of frogs (Exodus 8:6)?  The magicians were able to re-create that one, too.  Again, only adding to the plague.  And parenthetically, did you know that Egyptians believed frogs to be sacred, and that even though they were being overrun by them, they were forbidden to kill them.  Don't tell me God doesn't love irony!

And what about the many miracles in the New Testament?  What about the dead being brought back to life?  Perhaps they weren't really dead, but the people of the day were so medically simple-minded, they were easily fooled.

What about blind people being given sight?  Even today there are people with hysterical blindness; a problem that is only in their heads, and can be solved simply by the attention they get at the hospital.

And in Acts 16:26, when Paul and Silas were in prison, they were freed by an earthquake.  But it's not that unusual for an earthquakes to occur in that part of the world.  The amazing coincidence was the timing, right?

Well, for all I know, plants in the desert do experience spontaneous combustion.  But Moses had lived in the desert for 40 years, and I trust that he would have been familiar with such a phenomenon.  But he knew that this bush, which burned without being consumed by the fire, was a miracle for which the only explanation was God.

And the plagues against Egypt?  Moses didn't just turn the Nile red, but to blood; and it wasn't just the Nile, but the water in every pitcher and bucket.  Aaron's serpent swallowed that of the magicians.  The frogs, the lice, the flies, the dying livestock, the boils, the hail and fire, the three days of darkness, the death of the firstborn.... Every time, Moses predicted the plague before it occurred; when Moses called upon God to reverse a plague, it disappeared completely; and every time, the Hebrews living in Goshen were unaffected.

I don't even know if the Red Sea has high tide and low tide, and Exodus says God used a strong east wind to allow the children of Israel to go into the midst of the sea "on the dry ground," and the waters were "a wall on their right hand and on their left."  And when the waters returned, the chariots, the horsemen, "and all of Pharaoh's army" that had followed them were covered by water.  Not one of God's chosen was lost.

And while I live in a technologically advanced age, and have taken biology and human anatomy classes, I didn't know until recently about how death on the cross worked.  That it's really death by asphyxiation, which could be hastened if the victim's legs were broken, preventing him from pushing up to ease breathing.  But they knew.   They knew that when you pierce the side, and see that blood and water have separated in the body, that the victim is dead.  Those "medically simple-minded people" knew.  They knew how to cause death, and they knew when it had occurred.

And the solar eclipse when Jesus died?  Doesn't wash.  The Jews followed a lunar calendar, and even today, Passover falls on a full moon.  Solar eclipses occur only during a new moon.  So the explanation for the darkness?  The day of Jesus' death was the darkest day in history, before or since.  And God knew it.  And He wanted us to know it.

Some miracles are just miracles.  No explanations, no easy answers, just miracles.  And you can study physics, or math, or anatomy for the rest of your life, and you're never gonna say, "Oh, now I understand how He did that."

Johannes Kepler, the German astronomer, said of our feeble explanations, "We are thinking God's thoughts after Him."

Our God, who created the universe in six days, could have done it in six seconds.

Our God, who makes the sun rise each morning, created the hearts and minds of the very skeptics who doubt Him.

Our God can do incredible, powerful, mind-blowing miracles.  All by Himself.  Without us; without nature; without magic; without explanation; without effort.  Our God has only to say the word.

Our God is power and glory and majesty and perfection and wonder and love.

Our God is an awesome God.