June 2

God is alive and at work

             Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. For this time I will send all my plagues upon you yourself, and upon your officials, and upon your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But this is why I have let you live: to show you my power, and to make my name resound through all the earth.

Exodus 9:13-16

          Miracles are not just for the person receiving.  Divine intervention is also intended to testify to the world about the power and goodness of God.  This is true throughout scripture.  Jesus does most of His miracles in public.  There are some that are in secret…but even those are done in front of the disciples and scripture records that because of Jesus’ works, His followers understood more and believed in Him more. 

          In the Old Testament, Moses is called to speak to Pharaoh before the 7^th plague.  God reveals that He could have simply wiped away the Egyptians or marched the Israelites out of captivity earlier.  He did not do those things so that the rest of the world would see God’s power and the peoples of the earth would know that He is the Almighty.

          God’s works are not just to encourage us and make our lives easier.  They are to be at the core of what we share with the rest of the world.  We share what God has done to testify that we see Him at work in this world.  It is not just coincidence or good fortune or karma; it is the Lord of the Universe interrupting every day life in order to take care of His children.  God is alive and at work in our world.  His works bring joy to us and offer the Good News to the rest of the world.

          Sometimes God intervenes through signs and wonders…what we call miracles.  They have no explanation.  They have no precedent.  The dead are raised, the lame can walk and the blind receive their sight.  Miracles. 

          Sometimes God intervenes through medicine and education: doctors and surgeries and medicines and therapies.  Just because there is science included or standard procedures associated with the healing does not mean that God is not involved.  He loves to work through trained professionals.  He loves to help people live out their calling and utilize their giftings to the fullest.

          Sometimes God intervenes through the long, slow progress of time.  The bodies get bigger and the brains develop and things that were major obstacles in the past are now barely noticeable.

          My son was sensitive to wheat.  Now he is not and he is free and clear to eat anything and everything that he wants to.  Which he gladly does…all day, every day.  Was his healing the hand of God performing a miracle?  Was it the therapies and doctor appointments that we went to in order to try moving him past that sensitivity?  Was it simply his body developing and no longer being bothered by gluten?  Yes.  I would say that it was all of those.  I give God all the credit for healing my son even though I do not know exactly which of those tools He used to cure what percentage of my son’s issue.  I won’t know until Heaven.  What I can be certain of and what I can share with other people is that God loved my son and God loved my family enough to deal with an issue that is tiny and insignificant on a cosmic scale, but within my family it was huge.  God loved us enough to heal him and free us to enjoy all of the delicious things that come with being able to eat wheat and gluten.

          Was it science or a miracle or my son’s natural development?  Yes it was and we are so grateful to God.  That story is one that I frequently share because even though the healing was primarily to benefit my son, telling others about God’s goodness to us is for their benefit as well.  God is alive and at work in this world…I’ve seen the results.

A moment to reflect:

What has God done to bring some healing to your child?