I recall a question the Pastor of my church asked a few years back that gave me pause. It required a fair amount of thought before responding. While at first it appeared to be rather simplistic, it was actually quite profound. What was this compelling question you ask?

Would you rather have a blessing or a miracle?

Your initial response may be the same as mine. I want a miracle! However, after pondering this gut reaction, I thought differently. Did I really need a miracle? Was my life in such disarray that only the mighty hand of God could save me?

• Terminal illnesses need a miracle.
• Planes about to crash need a miracle.
• Life-threatening injuries need a miracle.

Praise the Lord, neither I nor anyone I know was or are experiencing any of these situations. I pray the same for you and yours.

So, why are we always asking God for a miracle? Is it because we only know Him for the miracles He did? Do we only know God’s hand in the Red Sea, raising Lazarus from the dead, or enabling Peter to walk on water?

If so, then maybe, just maybe, we don’t really know who God is. I know. That may be an “ouch” statement, but let’s dig in a bit to see if it applies.

The Bible is full of miraculous events and our “eyes” are drawn to them. The spectacular always gets the attention. However, to sustain it, we need another miracle, and another. Otherwise, they lose their luster and we lose interest.

A great example is a one-hit wonder singer. They hit the charts with a knock-it-out-of-the-park song, and we can’t wait for more. Then? Crickets. That’s all they had. For whatever reason, they were not able to produce another hit. So our attention went on to the next thing in our sights.

The same may be true with God. Perhaps He performed some miraculous feat in your life and now you expect Him to do another, and another, and another. However, God is not our genie in a bottle, sitting on His throne waiting for us to rub His belly and speak our commands. Far from it!

Even if He did perform the miraculous for you, perhaps it was done to draw you closer to Him so that a life-long relationship could begin. If you think about it, how many people from the Bible began to follow Jesus because of the miracles He performed?

• Water into wine. (John 2:1-12)
• Dead people raised. (John 11)
• Thousands fed from two fish and five loaves of bread. (Matthew 14:13-21)
• Lepers healed. (Luke 17:11-19)

I could go on and on however, Jesus wasn’t doing miracles 24/7/365. While He did perform a lot (more than what is recorded in the Bible), it was not constant. What did He do in between? He preached God’s Word. He taught people about His Father. He spent time with Him in prayer. He shared the Good News of eternal life in heaven.

These activities – this consistency – is is what made people stay. However, there were many who left. Perhaps they wanted the 24/7/365 miracles. Perhaps they didn’t understand what He was teaching. Perhaps the blessing of His presence in their everyday life was not enough to sustain their faith. I don’t know these answers.

Here’s what I do know.

I did experience the miraculous hand of God in my life on a fateful November morning years ago. This miracle opened the door to a boatload of blessings. Why? Because I got to know who God is, not just what He can do for me. 

And that’s a miracle.