When Solomon finished praying, fire flashed down from heaven and burned up the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple. The priests could not enter the Temple of the Lord because the glorious presence of the Lord filled it. 2 Chronicles 7: 1-2 NLT

I came across this passage in my early morning Bible reading and wondered: What would it have been like to be there when this miracle happened? The fire from heaven. The visible presence of the Lord. The awe and wonder at His glorious presence. And then I thought…

Where are today’s big miracles?

Why don’t we see these things today?

That started me on a brief journey on the subject of miracles. Pastor John Piper says that there were fewer miracles in the Bible than we probably think. And he points out they had very specific purposes…to point people to God.

Piper also says that there are probably more miracles going on around us today than we understand. The stories of God at work around the world…through the lives of missionaries, in lands hostile to the Gospel, in dire situations in our land or yours…if all were known, we would likely be awed by the hand of God showing Himself in a miraculous way.

The reality is that most of the people of the Bible did not see great miracles…but they learned of them through the telling and retelling of God’s faithfulness. Jesus performed miracles to verify His authority as God’s Son. He gave His disciples the ability to do miraculous things in order for the people to see and comprehend the fulfillment of God’s salvation through His Son Jesus.

Even then, Jesus didn’t heal everyone. Nor did His disciples. Jesus raised three people from the dead, but many he did not. There were those around Jesus who suffered and died without a miracle in their lives. Even His disciples suffered for their faith, most dying painful deaths at the hands of Christ’s enemies.

So, what about today? And what about the lack of miracles of biblical proportions? Pastor Piper explains:

“Christianity is basically a life lived by looking back with confidence in the work of Christ, and looking forward in hope because of that past…”

In other words, we shouldn’t need to see the big miracles in order to live out our faith. We can trust God for His ability to do His work in our lives, and then look forward with hope for the future.

And what about miracles today? I have four children whom God brought into our family in miraculous ways. One biological child and three adopted ones. I have often made the comment that it took eight parents to bring our four children into this world. But by God’s miraculous grace, we are one family.

We all have probably seen a life changed by the power of God’s Holy Spirit and we can say it is only a miracle of the Lord. Some people receive miraculous reports from the doctors that they are healed, or that cancer previously detected is now gone. A modern-day miracle. But that doesn’t happen in every case. The fact that God even answers prayer is a miracle when we realize that the great God of the universe doesn’t owe us anything.

It may also be that we aren’t looking for God’s miracles today. It may be that our faith isn’t so strong and that those special experiences don’t’ happen. Ultimately, though, we need to remember that God is Sovereign. It is His will that determines if something miraculous happens.

And it is for His purpose, not our personal experience.

Of course, our own salvation is a miracle of God. He has no reason to save me, except by His miraculous grace. And that is a miracle we should be telling over and over…that others might come to know our Lord Jesus. Then we would experience another miracle…another life changed by Christ Jesus.