“And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’” – Luke 1:35–37


Miracles are things that we rarely talk about outside of the Bible. While it’s a common word in our language, we don’t usually speak of them literally but figuratively. “It’s a miracle we got to school on time after you took an hour-long shower,” or “It’s a miracle that our team is still in the playoffs after that loss.” We use the word with no real meaning other than something that happened against the odds. So, what do we do with the concept of miracles?


First, we have to believe that God has the power to work miracles when and where He chooses simply because He is God. Second, we have to believe that God still works miracles even though we may not see them. How can we know what God is or isn’t doing worldwide right now? Third, we may need to reframe how we define miracles. I don’t think all miracles are only the sensational miracles we see in Scripture. When I think of a miracle, I think of how God chooses to work in our world in unexpected and beautiful ways. Reconciliation between races, love resurrected from betrayal, and someone coming out of depression and into health are all miraculous. It doesn’t have to be flashy to be a miracle.


Read Luke 1:35-37. This is as miraculous a miracle as you could hope to find. God’s very Spirit would be the source of the baby in Mary’s womb. And her cousin Elizabeth, who
was, by human standards, too old to be able to have a baby, was pregnant as well. These two miracles are at the very heart of the Christmas story. Start looking for the miraculous in your world, and I promise you'll find they’re happening all around you. You may have just never noticed.



QUESTIONS:


With this new definition of miracles, where have you seen miracles in your life?


How does this perspective change the way you see God working in the world?