Miracles Don't Always Look the Same

 

For a while now I have been reading through the Gospels.  I go slowly, one section at a time.  So I am only in Mark (and I get distracted by other studies, so I don't always read the Gospels everyday). It was reading in Mark, however that I suddenly became aware of how different miracles can look.

Here are some examples:

• Jesus took Simon's mother-in-law's hand and the fever left her.
• A man with leprosy comes to Jesus and says, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."  Jesus touches the man, says, "I am willing. Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy is gone.
• Paralytic man is lowered through the room to Jesus.  Jesus says He forgives the man's sins.  Then says to take up his bed and walk, and the man gets up and walks out praising God.
• A demon-possessed man runs at Jesus and Jesus says to "Come out of this man, you evil spirit."  But then the spirit talks back to Jesus and Jesus has a conversation with this evil spirit and then casts the demons out into pigs.
• A woman touches Jesus' garments and is immediately healed.
• Jarius comes to Jesus to heal his daughter, but on the way there the daughter dies, yet Jesus keeps going and raises her up from the dead.
• A Syrophoenician woman begs Jesus to heal her daughter of an evil spirit.  He seems to ignore and push her away, but as she persists, He praises her faith and heals her daughter without even being near the little girl.
• A deaf and mute man is brought to Jesus and Jesus puts his fingers into the man's ears, spits and touches the man's tongue, looks up to heaven and with a deep sign said to him, "Be opened!" The man is healed.
• Blind Bartimaeus refuses to be silenced and calls out continuously for Jesus.  When Jesus asks, "What do you want me to do for you?" Bartimaeus says, "Rabbi, I want to see."  "Go," Jesus says, "your faith has healed you."  And immediately Bartimaeus can see.

What is it about Jesus or the people that makes each miracle so different?

And what makes some miracles immediate and others have a process, a pleading, a waiting, a disappointment...before the miracle.

I've been praying for a miracle for our daughter to come home to us soon.  I still pray that daily.  And I wonder, if like Jarius, Jesus is coming with a miracle unlike I ever imagined, even though it seems like hope is gone.

I wonder if like the deaf and mute man Jesus is piecing the miracle together, and as I wait expectantly He smiles at the joy about to be seen and heard.

I wonder if like the Syrophoenician woman Jesus is testing my faith and persistence and is waiting just a little longer before announcing with joy, "You have great faith!"

I don't know what the miracle of our daughter will look like.  I don't know what amazing story God is writing and about the reveal.  But I do know that like Jarius I won't stop traveling with Jesus.

Like Bartimeaus I won't stop calling out to Jesus to hear my case.

Like the man with leprosy I will ask for what seems like an impossible request.

Like the woman bleeding for twelve years I won't stop trying to reach out and touch Jesus.

Like the paralytic I will have friends carry me to Jesus when I cannot do it on my own.

And like the Syrophoenician woman, I will not stop seeking God for my daughter.

What miracle are you praying for?  Search the scriptures and discover that miracles come in many different ways.  Some are immediate, some are delayed.  But all are for God's glory and our joy.
I wait expectantly in faith for God's glory to be revealed in the adoption of our daughter.