Miracles.

The Bible is full of miracles, and of course, I believe that every single one of them really happened, from the parting of the Red Sea to the many people Jesus healed. I've heard of miracles happening to people during my life, and maybe even witnessed a few in a small way. But I'll admit that I can be skeptical when a story of a miraculous event comes through word of mouth, passed from person to person. I also tend to be skeptical when it comes to huge, flashy healing services where dozens or hundreds of people claim to experience miracles in a short amount of time. {The older I get, the less I'm impressed with flashy and noisy experiences and the more I value quiet and humble and genuine things.} 

 

So I was intrigued by this book: Miracles, by Tim Stafford. And it turned out to be a really interesting read. The author covers a lot in this book...everything from why people doubt miraculous stories to the history of miracles to what to think when miracles don't happen {or maybe I should say, when miracles don't happen in the timing we want. He says that miracles are a taste of what's to come. Some miracles and healings might not happen on earth, but they'll all be accomplished in heaven}.

I think he has a great attitude about all of the issues covered. We should keep our eyes open and believe that miracles can happen and do happen. But we should also realize that they shouldn't draw attention to themselves but instead to God and His power. Miracles shouldn't be our complete focus.

I liked the recap of the miracles in the Old and New Testaments. I had never realized before that most of the ones that are written about in the Old Testament were public miracles...ones that were actually witnessed by thousands of people, not just carried by word of mouth. But in the New Testament, things shift toward miracles being for a smaller audience, usually a handful of people seeing Jesus heal someone. And if you remember, several times he instructed the healed person not to spread the news. I also thought it was interesting when the author pointed out that the majority of miracles written about in the Bible happened in two periods that cover only about 7% of the two thousand years or so total. During the rest of the time, either there weren't an awful lot of miracles or they just weren't recorded.

I really enjoyed reading Miracles. If this is an issue you've been thinking about lately, you should definitely check it out (whether you're a bit of a skeptic or not, or somewhere in between).

Until next time,

{I received this book free for review from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. I apologize for being a bit late with my review!}