2 Kings 20:11 Then the prophet Isaiah called upon the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.

There are many places in the Bible where miracles of one sort or another are mentioned. However, this one, and the one in Joshua 10:13 where it says the sun stood still, are the most incredible, because they deal with the rotation of the earth itself. However, geologists have discovered various things that indicate things like the magnetic poles of the earth swapping places. For that matter, right now the north pole is making its way from northern Canada over to Siberia. We forget that God really is the Creator, and He has every right and ability to “tinker with” His creation. Over the centuries we have discovered various “laws” of physics and we consider them immutable, but that is putting God into a box. I have come to the conclusion that science is a description of how God usually acts. He doesn’t violate Newton very often in our experience, but the whole field of Quantum Mechanics deals with how the universe isn’t always as Newton described it. When even human intellect can discover that, why should we be surprised when God does things that seem to set Newton, and for that matter, Quantum Mechanics, completely aside? Speaking of asides, I find it very interesting that Isaac Newton is considered the father of Physics, but John Newton wrote the lyrics to Amazing Grace, which is no less a great discovery on the eternal scale. The whole point is, we aren’t to run around expecting God to suspend physical laws for our convenience, but we do need to remember that the physical isn’t ultimately of the greatest importance. God is God, and that automatically transcends anything and everything human.

I grew up in a very academic/intellectual family, and have numbers of scientists and academics among my relatives. A major part of my education came from National Geographic Magazine, of which we had back issues all the way to the 1930s. At the same time, my household was very much one of faith. I don’t think my parents doubted the Bible, even if they didn’t have much expectation of the miraculous in their daily lives. I never felt any tension between the spiritual and the scientific, and frankly, I still don’t. Even today I’m a huge space buff, and I follow news of various scientific advances fairly closely. However, I am saddened by those who think, and even proclaim, that science has supplanted God, that we “no longer need superstitions.” That is nothing less than setting themselves up as the final arbiter of what is true, and there can be no greater hubris. I feel that miracles of various sorts are a necessary reminder that God is still, and will always be, God, and He can do anything He likes. My job is to stay lined up with Him, to the greatest degree He makes possible, because nothing is impossible for Him. (Luke 1:37)

Father, thank You for this reminder. I don’t think about this sort of thing consciously very often, but thank You that it is at the foundation of my awareness. Thank You for the many miracles, physical and spiritual, that You have worked in my life. Help me consistently do Your will, whether it seems miraculous to others or not, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Praise God!