John 3:2 “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Everything has a purpose, and miracles are no exception. They don’t simply meet a need, they demonstrate the power of God and authenticate His messengers, as evidenced here. What Jesus taught would have been just as true even if He had not performed miracles, but those miracles made people like Nicodemus acknowledge that there was Divine activity going on. Today we tend to ask for miracles without thinking how God might want to use them. Actually, people today tend to be very jaded by technology. Someone said that “Any technology, if sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from magic.” Even when God works a miracle, we look for some other explanation. If God isn’t going to get credit, why should He do miracles in the first place? That’s probably a major reason why miracles are far more common in some African countries than they are in Japan or the US. If we give God credit for the things He is already doing in our lives, I can’t help but feel that the “miraculous” would be far more common.

For 30 years I have desired dramatic miracles to demonstrate the truth of the Words God speaks through me, but I realize that there are many who would refuse to believe even in the face of miracles, and thankfully, there have been those who have believed without miracles. I still would not be upset at miraculous confirmation! I cannot dictate to God when He is to do what, because the probability that I would be wrong is very close to 100%. I need to be faithful in my obedience and active in expecting Him to act in line with His character. I should be at peace knowing that He is love, holiness, power, faithfulness, and all of that. At the same time, I am not to hesitate to pray for miracles, and to recognize and acknowledge them when they happen. As a pastor, I need to help the believers recognize God’s hand in their lives. He does some pretty remarkably things all the time, and we too often fail to recognize them.

Father, You know my situation better than I do. You know my frustration when people dismiss Your truth simply because it is spoken by someone who is not Japanese. That’s true enough when it happens with non-believers, but it is downright painful when it happens with Christians, and it has. Help me trust You fully with myself and with those in my care, so that You will be completely free to work Your miracles, recognized or not, in all of us, for Your satisfaction and pleasure. Thank You. Praise God!