S'wonderful... s'marvelous!

"His name will be called

Wonderful"

Isaiah 9:6

Have you ever heard that saying, "What if you woke up this morning, with only the things you thanked God for yesterday" ?  It's a very thought-provoking reminder of all He does for us, and all we have to thank Him for.

But the other day I was discussing miracles with a friend of mine.  We were thinking, "what if God took back from us anything we didn't recognize as a miracle from Him?"  Then we started to think about the different definitions people have of miracles.  What exactly constitutes a miracle?  My dictionary says that a miracle is defined as "a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency."

A divine agency??  What the heck?  Apparently my dictionary is not Christian... 

Anyhow... the second definition says "a highly improbable or extraordinary event; an outstanding or amazing product or achievement".

And the origin?  This is a good one.  It comes from the Latin for wonderful ~ as in:  something that makes you wonder.  The origin of the word is almost better than the definitions.  A miracle is something that makes you wonder.

You see, my friend and I were disagreeing as to what exactly constitutes a miracle.  I think that she was thinking of a miracle by the first definition ~ something that can only be explained as a work of God.   I was going by the idea that a miracle is something "highly improbable" or more accurately in my circumstance at the time ~ something surprising and welcome, but unexpected. 

And that's why I think the word wonderful is the best description for a miracle.  Because an event can be perfectly explainable, and yet still make you wonder why, or even why now?  And that, I think, is where God comes in.  Because He is the what and the when and the why of everything in our lives.  We have choices, but not always about what happens to us.

All the more reason to be aware of all He does in our lives.  And all the more reason to acknowledge them.

~ "Pause and wonder!" ~

Isaiah 29:9