"Do Miracles Still Happen?"

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Well, hey everybody.
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Welcome back to Bible basically, where we are figuring out faiths together.
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You know, I was going to continue this series on kind of everyday biblical application.
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And I I mean I guess I kind of am, but I but I I I want to talk about something that is very personal to me because I think that it speaks volumes about what we're doing here.
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So I want to start today's episode a little differently.
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It's not going to be some clever opening or hypothetical question, and certainly not a story from someone else's life, just something to have it in mind.
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I've alluded on several occasions during these episodes that I have a fair share of health problems.
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And one of the things that I was told not too long ago was that I needed a heart transplant.
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And just this past week, I was told that I don't.
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Now let me say that again.
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I was told that I needed a heart transplant, and now I am being told I don't.
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And I gotta be honest, I'm still processing that.
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Because when you've spent time thinking about something as enormous as that, you you just don't flip a switch when someone gives you the good news.
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I mean, I've I've had heart surgery before, so I knew a version of what it was going to entail.
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I imagine the surgery.
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Thought about the recovery.
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Obviously, I thought about what could go wrong, thought about my family, whether or not I was going to wake up.
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And even what life might look like afterwards.
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Other people prayed.
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And somewhere along the way, I had to come up, come to terms with the possibility that this might be my future.
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And then my doctor says it's not.
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So today, what I want to talk about, and you've already seen it in the title, but I want to talk about miracles.
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This is this is a divisive topic.
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Do miracles still happen?
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Does God still intervene directly in our lives?
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Does he still heal?
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Can we actually pray for something impossible and expect that God might do it?
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And when something extraordinary happens, when a prognosis changes, when the thing you are preparing yourself for suddenly isn't happening anymore, what are we supposed to call that?
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Because look, I'll tell you what I want to call what happened to me.
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And that's a miracle.
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But I want to be careful with that word.
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I'm not sitting here with some scientific test that says God did this.
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It's not how it works.
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There's I'm sure plenty of medical explanations for this reverse in in in diagnosis.
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But I mean, what else am I supposed to call it?
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There might have been a dozen things, treatments that I'm on, medications that I'm on that have helped a little bit or that are helping a little bit.
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But I don't think that pushes God out of the story.
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In fact, I don't believe that medicine and miracles have to be enemies.
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Sorry.
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I don't believe that if a doctor can explain what happened, God automatically gets excluded from it.
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But I also don't want to be so sophisticated, so skeptical, so afraid of sounding irrational that I'm unwilling to look at something so extraordinary in my life and say, God, thank you.
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Thank you.
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Do miracles still happen?
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And maybe even a harder question What do we do when they don't?
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Because if we're gonna talk about miracles, honestly, we have to talk about both.
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We use that word pretty casually, miracle.
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You know, you find a parking spot in the mall.
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Man, it's a miracle.
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I found a parking spot.
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Your flight leaves on time.
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That's a miracle.
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Kid cleans the room without being asked.
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I mean, as parents, we all know that is that is truly God's intervention.
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Okay.
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That wouldn't actually qualify.
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But biblically, miracles are something much bigger.
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Throughout scripture, we see moments when God acts in extraordinary ways that reveal his power, his authority, his compassion, and ultimately his identity.
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The Red Sea parts.
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Mana falls from heaven, the blind see, the lame walk, storms stop.
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Thousands are fed from almost nothing, the dead are raised, and ultimately Jesus himself rises from the grave.
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Christianity doesn't simply leave room for miracles, it's built around a miracle.
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If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, we don't have Christianity.
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In fact, Paul says exactly that in 1 Corinthians 15, 14 through 20.
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And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
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We're even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if it is true that the dead are not raised.
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For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
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And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.
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Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
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If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
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But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.
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The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
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Think about what he said.
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He doesn't say the resurrection is a nice inspirational story.
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He says everything hinges on that story.
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We talked about all of this in an earlier episode.
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What if it's true?
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If Jesus didn't rise, our faith collapses.
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So Christians should not be embarrassed by the supernatural.
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It's woven into everything that we believe.
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There's a moment in Luke where Jesus is talking about salvation, and the disciples ask him a question.
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In Luke 18, 26 and 27, those who heard it said, Then who can be saved?
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But he said, What is impossible with man is possible with God.
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I love that verse.
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But we need to be careful with it because Jesus isn't giving us a blank check.
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He's not saying, whatever impossible thing you want, God is obligated to give you.
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No, it's not how it works.
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It's not Christianity.
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God's not a vending machine.
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Prayer isn't putting enough faith into the machine until the miracle drops out.
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But Jesus is reminding us of something incredibly important.
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He's reminding us that our limitations are not God's limitations.
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There are things that we cannot do or cannot control.
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There are outcomes we cannot manufacture.
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There are problems that we can't solve.
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God doesn't have those limitations.
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And that means Christians should be able to pray boldly.
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We should be able to ask God for things that seem impossible.
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Not demand.
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Ask.
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There's a difference.
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When we talk about miracles, we can't avoid talking about healing.
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Because healing was a huge part of Jesus' ministry.
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And one of my favorite examples is in Mark chapter 5.
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A woman has been suffering from bleeding for 12 years.
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She spent everything that she has trying to get better, and nothing worked.
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And then she hears about Jesus.
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Mark 5, 25 through 34.
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And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.
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She had heard reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.
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For she said, If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.
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And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
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And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned to the crowd and said, Who touched my garments?
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And his disciples said to him, You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, Who touched me?
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I love that little bit of, man, everybody's touching you, that that moment right there.
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The humanity of everything.
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Everybody's touching you.
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And he looked around to see who had done it, but the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.
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And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well.
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Go in peace and be healed of your disease.
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Twelve years she lived with that.
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Think about it.
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Twelve years of doctors and disappointment, hoping that the next treatment might work, and was still waking up with the same problem.
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And then she encountered Jesus, and everything changed.
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Now, here's where we arrive at the question that matters for us.
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That was two thousand years ago.
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What about now?
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Hebrews gives us an incredibly simple statement.
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Hebrews 13, 8.
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Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
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Jesus who still who he the Jesus who healed people in the Gospels is still Jesus.
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The Jesus who had compassion on suffering people is still Jesus.
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The Jesus who heard desperate prayers is still Jesus.
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And the Jesus who had authority over sickness is still Jesus.
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So here's a tough question.
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Does that mean that everyone who prays for healing will be healed?
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No.
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And we're going to spend a significant amount of time talking about that because I refuse to give you an answer that the scripture doesn't give us.
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But it does mean something important.
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We still have permission to ask.
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We can pray boldly.
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We can pray specifically.
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We can ask God to heal.
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We can ask him to intervene.
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And we can ask him to do something that doctors can't explain.
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But here's the key, the crux of all of it.
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We have to trust him with the answer.
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And that's where I find myself today.
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Look, I prayed.
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Plenty of people around me prayed.
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And I was prepping myself for the possibility of getting a new heart.
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And that is not a small thing, especially if you know me.
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I'm a big man, so it was going to be a big heart.
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So that is not a small thing.
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And now I'm being told, ah, you're good, man.
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There's other stuff we can do to help you out.
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So what am I supposed to do with it?
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I could overanalyze it.
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I could try and explain it away.
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I could spend all my time trying to determine exactly where medicine ends and God's intervention begins.
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And there's certainly a place for understanding the medical side of what happened because I do.
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But before I do any of that, I want to do something much simpler.
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I want to say thank you.
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Thank you, God.
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Thank you for another day.
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Thank you for an answer I desperately hoped for.
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Thank you for doctors.
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Thank you for medicine.
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Thank you to everyone who prayed.
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Thank you for carrying me through this time when I didn't know how this story was going to end.
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And thank you so much that today, right now, that story looks different.
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I don't want to be ignorant of the fact that somewhere right now someone else is praying just as hard as I did.
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Someone else's family is praying.
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Someone else is sitting in a hospital room or waiting for test results.
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Someone else believes with everything that they have that God can heal them.
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And sometimes the answer is not the one they wanted.
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So if I'm going to stand here and call what happened to me a miracle, I have to be willing to ask the extremely uncomfortable question.
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Why me?
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And I'm I'm I don't know.
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Why does one answer one person get the answer they prayed for and someone else doesn't?
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Was my faith stronger?
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Absolutely not.
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Did I pray better?
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Anybody who's heard me pray will probably tell you no.
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Did God love me more?
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No.
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He loves all of us.
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And if we're gonna talk honestly about modern-day miracles, we have to talk about that.
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Because the Bible doesn't teach us that enough faith guarantees healing.
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And it doesn't teach us that unanswered prayer means God has abandoned us.
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So we're gonna look at what scripture actually says about praying for miracles today.
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And then later we'll confront the hardest question of all.
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Why doesn't God heal everyone?
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Because if we're gonna celebrate the miracle, we also have to sit beside the person who's still waiting for those.
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So we establish something important.
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Miracles are not some strange little side note in Christianity.
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They're woven throughout scripture, and Christianity itself stands or falls on the greatest miracle of all, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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But there's still an obvious question.
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That was then.
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What about now?
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We read stories about Moses parting the Red Sea and Elijah calling down fire and Jesus healing the sick, Peter and John healing a man who couldn't walk, Paul performing different signs and wonders wonders, but we're living roughly two thousand years later.
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So question begs do miracles still happen, or does something change?
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And the truth is Christianity itself is divided on this.
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Faithful Bible-believing Christians don't all agree on exactly how miraculous gifts operate today.
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There are Christians who believe certain miraculous spiritual gifts were primarily signs associated with the first apostles and the establishment of the early church.
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And that position is often called cessationism.
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And then there are Christians who believe that miraculous gifts described in the New Testament continue to operate in the church today.
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And that's commonly called continuationism.
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And there are Christians who land somewhere in between.
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And I'm not going to pretend that this is a debate we're going to settle in 30 minutes.
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And honestly, I don't think we need to, because there is a distinction that's really important here.
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We can debate whether every miraculous spiritual gift operates today exactly as it did in the book of Acts.
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But that is a different question from asking does God or can God still perform a miracle?
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Because if God God is still God, then God is still capable of acting.
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See, I don't believe Scripture gives us any reason to conclude that God somehow lost his ability to intervene his creation when the apostolic age ended.
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I can't talk.
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I'm a mess, by the way.
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It's a tough subject.
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Scripture continues to tell believers to pray, including to pray for healing.
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James 5, 13 through 16 says, Is anyone among you suffering?
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Let him pray.
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Is anyone cheerful?
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Let him sing praise.
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Is anyone among you sick?
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Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
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And the prayer of the prayer of the and the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
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Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
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The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
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That's pretty direct.
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If someone is suffering, pray.
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If they're sick, pray.
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If another believer needs healing, pray.
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James doesn't tell Christians to shrug their shoulders and say, well, it is what it is.
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Whatever happens, happens.
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He tells them to ask God.
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And notice something else.
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Prayer is not presented here as like a last resort.
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You know how sometimes we say, well, there's nothing left to do except pray.
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Think about how strange that sentence actually is.
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There's nothing left to do except for talk to the creator of the universe.
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Prayer shouldn't be the emergency lever we pull after everything else fails.
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Prayer should be part of the entire journey.
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Before the appointment, during the treatment, after the diagnosis, before the surgery, while you're taking the medication, while the doctors are doing everything they know how to do, we should be praying.
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And I want to stop here because this matters to me personally.
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There are a handful of people that create a false choice.
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Either God healed you or medicine healed you.
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Some people will listen to this and go, Dennis, this wasn't a miracle.
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This was, you know, a reversal of a decision.
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This was, you know, you living better, getting better.
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I don't know.
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They'll explain it away medically a million different ways.
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But why do those things have to be mutually exclusive?
00:27:35.019 --> 00:27:41.980
If you believe God created human beings with intelligence, why wouldn't medical knowledge be one of the ways his provision reaches us?
00:27:45.259 --> 00:27:55.580
Luke, who wrote both Luke and Acts, is identified in Scripture as a physician.
00:27:57.660 --> 00:28:05.580
Colossians 4 14, Luke, the beloved physician, greets you as does Demas.
00:28:07.259 --> 00:28:10.380
Paul doesn't criticize Luke for practicing medicine.
00:28:10.540 --> 00:28:13.740
He calls him the beloved physician.
00:28:14.940 --> 00:28:18.780
So I don't think taking medication means you lack faith.
00:28:19.019 --> 00:28:21.900
I don't think having surgery means you don't trust God.
00:28:23.580 --> 00:28:28.540
Or following your doctor's instructions somehow competes with prayer.
00:28:31.500 --> 00:28:38.620
I can thank God for what he's doing, and I can thank the medical team that's treating me.
00:28:39.100 --> 00:28:41.660
Those things don't cancel each other out.
00:28:44.220 --> 00:28:48.620
Look, maybe sometimes God's provision looks spectacular.
00:28:50.380 --> 00:28:55.660
And maybe sometimes God's provision wears scrubs.
00:29:03.980 --> 00:29:10.300
Let's look at one of the passages at the center of the conversation about miraculous gifts.
00:29:10.620 --> 00:29:16.940
Paul writes this to the Church of Corinth in 1 Corinthians 12, 4 through 11.
00:29:17.180 --> 00:29:26.060
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit, and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord.
00:29:27.100 --> 00:29:33.900
And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empire empowers them all in everyone.
00:29:34.540 --> 00:29:39.019
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
00:29:40.220 --> 00:29:50.780
For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same spirit.
00:29:51.580 --> 00:30:10.460
To another, faith by the same spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one spirit, and to another the working of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
00:30:10.780 --> 00:30:20.380
All these are empowered by one and the same spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
00:30:21.980 --> 00:30:28.140
There's something incredibly important in that last sentence, as he wills.
00:30:29.500 --> 00:30:35.580
The gifts belong to God, the power belongs to God, the decision belongs to God.
00:30:35.740 --> 00:30:47.180
We don't control him, we don't manufacture miracles, we don't manipulate God into doing what we want by reaching some imaginary level of faith.
00:30:49.820 --> 00:30:51.980
God acts as he wills.
00:30:52.780 --> 00:30:58.780
And that's important because it protects us from turning miracles into formulas.
00:31:02.300 --> 00:31:05.660
And there's another important principle that we see throughout scripture.
00:31:05.900 --> 00:31:10.140
Biblical miracles aren't primarily about creating spectacle.
00:31:11.980 --> 00:31:18.060
They're signs, they point somewhere, and ultimately they point towards God.
00:31:18.460 --> 00:31:21.100
Look at what happens in Acts chapter three.
00:31:21.259 --> 00:31:25.180
Peter and John encounter a man who has been unable to walk from birth.
00:31:25.420 --> 00:31:27.259
In Acts 3, 1 through 10.
00:31:27.420 --> 00:31:35.740
Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
00:31:36.300 --> 00:31:48.300
And a man, lame from birth, was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the beautiful gate, to ask alms of those entering the temple.
00:31:52.700 --> 00:31:59.340
Seeing Peter and John about to go in the temple, he asked to receive alms.
00:32:01.340 --> 00:32:08.540
And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, Look at us.
00:32:10.140 --> 00:32:14.540
And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.
00:32:15.259 --> 00:32:24.700
But Peter said, I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
00:32:25.500 --> 00:32:27.100
Rise up and walk.
00:32:29.019 --> 00:32:36.620
And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.
00:32:37.019 --> 00:32:44.700
And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
00:32:46.700 --> 00:32:55.180
And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the beautiful gate of the temple, asking for alms.
00:32:55.900 --> 00:33:00.140
And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
00:33:03.100 --> 00:33:07.340
I love what this guy does after he's healed.
00:33:07.660 --> 00:33:15.019
He's walking, he's leaping, and really most importantly, he's praising God.
00:33:16.460 --> 00:33:20.380
And that miracle points beyond the miracle.
00:33:21.100 --> 00:33:22.620
It points to God.
00:33:23.500 --> 00:33:29.900
And Peter makes absolutely sure nobody misunderstands where the power came from.
00:33:31.100 --> 00:33:36.860
A few verses later, the crowd is staring at Peter and John, and Peter basically says, Why are you looking at us?
00:33:39.740 --> 00:33:40.940
Acts 3.12.
00:33:41.019 --> 00:33:46.380
And when Peter saw it, he addressed the people, men of Israel, why do you wonder at this?
00:33:46.540 --> 00:33:53.019
Or why do you stare at us as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?
00:33:55.340 --> 00:33:59.180
See, that's important because Peter doesn't build a brand around himself.
00:33:59.259 --> 00:34:02.860
He doesn't say, Look how powerful my faith is.
00:34:04.060 --> 00:34:09.019
He immediately redirects the attention and says, This wasn't me.
00:34:11.820 --> 00:34:17.980
That's one of the biblical tests I think we should apply whenever somebody claims something miraculous has happened.
00:34:18.300 --> 00:34:19.900
Who gets the glory?
00:34:21.340 --> 00:34:21.980
The person?
00:34:24.539 --> 00:34:25.739
The preacher?
00:34:27.579 --> 00:34:28.860
The ministry?
00:34:30.300 --> 00:34:30.940
Or God?
00:34:33.259 --> 00:34:37.420
Because genuine miracles aren't advertisements for human beings.
00:34:37.659 --> 00:34:40.059
They all point to Jesus.
00:34:43.900 --> 00:34:49.980
Now I want to balance everything I just said because Christians can make mistakes in both directions.
00:34:50.219 --> 00:34:53.659
One extreme says miracles don't happen anymore.
00:34:54.300 --> 00:34:57.019
Everything must have a natural explanation.
00:34:57.259 --> 00:35:00.460
Don't even entertain the possibility that God intervened.
00:35:00.619 --> 00:35:03.099
But then there's another extreme.
00:35:03.739 --> 00:35:05.500
Everything becomes a miracle.
00:35:05.659 --> 00:35:07.659
Every coincidence is a sign.
00:35:07.900 --> 00:35:10.539
Every feeling becomes a word from God.
00:35:10.860 --> 00:35:13.980
Every recovery becomes a supernatural healing.
00:35:14.219 --> 00:35:17.739
Every unexplained event becomes divine intervention.
00:35:17.980 --> 00:35:21.340
And I don't think we really need either extreme.
00:35:22.059 --> 00:35:27.259
We can be discerning and still believe that God acts.
00:35:28.380 --> 00:35:31.739
We can ask medical questions and still pray.
00:35:31.980 --> 00:35:35.820
We can investigate explanations and still worship.
00:35:36.059 --> 00:35:39.579
We don't have to shut down our brains to believe in miracles.
00:35:39.659 --> 00:35:44.059
And we don't have to shut down our faith to appreciate science.
00:35:48.460 --> 00:35:51.420
And that's where I come back to what's happening in my life.
00:35:53.019 --> 00:35:58.219
I am most certainly not going to tell you I can scientifically prove God performed a miracle in my heart.
00:35:58.380 --> 00:35:59.259
I can't.
00:35:59.659 --> 00:36:05.820
But what I can tell you is this I was facing the possibility of a heart transplant.
00:36:07.019 --> 00:36:18.780
I prayed, people prayed, doctors treated me, medicine did what medicine does, and now I'm being told I don't need a transplant.
00:36:21.019 --> 00:36:36.220
You can call it medical improvement, you talk about treatment response, you can explain the physiology, and all those things may be true, and I'm still gonna look forward to heaven and I'm gonna say thank you.
00:36:38.940 --> 00:36:42.940
Because I don't need to understand every mechanism to recognize a gift.
00:36:52.300 --> 00:36:55.180
Everything we've talked about really has sounded wonderful.
00:36:55.340 --> 00:36:59.500
So here's where we get not as wonderful.
00:37:10.940 --> 00:37:11.980
High five.
00:37:13.900 --> 00:37:18.700
But once again, there's a person out there saying, I did all of that.
00:37:20.059 --> 00:37:21.579
Dennis, I did that.
00:37:22.220 --> 00:37:23.180
I prayed.
00:37:23.420 --> 00:37:26.380
My church prayed, my family prayed, I believed.
00:37:28.059 --> 00:37:30.860
And the person that I loved is no longer with me.
00:37:34.780 --> 00:37:37.420
Or I did that, I prayed.
00:37:38.460 --> 00:37:39.900
Cancer came back.
00:37:41.099 --> 00:37:42.860
My marriage didn't last.
00:37:44.220 --> 00:37:51.260
That diagnosis didn't change, the treatment didn't work, the miracle that I so desperately needed never came.
00:37:53.260 --> 00:37:55.500
So, what do we do with your story?
00:37:58.619 --> 00:38:06.220
Because if I celebrate what God has done in my life without making room for your unanswered prayer, I'm not giving you the whole biblical picture.
00:38:07.820 --> 00:38:10.460
And look, the Bible doesn't run away from that question.
00:38:10.619 --> 00:38:13.579
Paul prayed for something to be taken away and God said no.
00:38:13.740 --> 00:38:14.460
We talked about it.
00:38:14.539 --> 00:38:16.539
There's a whole episode, what if God says no?
00:38:16.780 --> 00:38:17.820
God says no.
00:38:18.059 --> 00:38:24.460
Jesus himself prayed in Gethsemane and still went to the cross.
00:38:27.340 --> 00:38:30.460
So if God can heal, why doesn't he heal everyone?
00:38:33.980 --> 00:38:41.980
I'm gonna tell you right now, we're gonna keep looking, and whatever answer we find, it will not be you just didn't have enough faith.
00:38:45.099 --> 00:38:46.860
Because that's not the gospel.
00:38:53.980 --> 00:38:55.900
Celebrating a miracle is easy.
00:38:56.059 --> 00:38:59.019
Explaining why someone else didn't receive one is not.
00:38:59.260 --> 00:39:06.700
So I want to be really careful here because, like I said, someone listening to this has prayed for healing and didn't get it.
00:39:06.940 --> 00:39:11.980
Either you prayed for yourself or your spouse or a parent or a child or a friend.
00:39:12.220 --> 00:39:24.300
Maybe the entire church prayed, maybe you fasted, maybe people laid hands on them, maybe you believed with everything that you had that the test was going to come back negative and it still came back positive.
00:39:25.900 --> 00:39:32.300
The disease progressed, the treatment didn't work, or the person that you loved is no longer with us.
00:39:33.180 --> 00:39:38.460
And you hear someone like me say, I prayed, and now I don't need a heart transplant.
00:39:38.539 --> 00:39:44.700
And maybe there's a little part of you, maybe, maybe, there's a little part of you that wonders, why him?
00:39:46.539 --> 00:39:47.740
Why not me?
00:39:49.019 --> 00:39:52.300
Why didn't God do that for the person that I loved?
00:39:56.860 --> 00:39:58.780
Those aren't bad questions.
00:39:59.660 --> 00:40:01.500
Those are human questions.
00:40:01.900 --> 00:40:07.340
And I'm not going to insult you by pretending that I have a simple answer because I don't.
00:40:08.059 --> 00:40:12.700
But I can tell you a few things that the Bible makes very clear.
00:40:12.940 --> 00:40:16.220
And the first one is incredibly important.
00:40:17.740 --> 00:40:19.340
I said it before.
00:40:19.660 --> 00:40:23.180
It is not because you didn't have enough faith.
00:40:28.300 --> 00:40:30.460
There's a danger to that thought.
00:40:31.900 --> 00:40:37.340
The thought that you just needed enough faith, or you just need more faith.
00:40:37.500 --> 00:40:46.860
In fact, there's a version of Christianity that says, if you're sick, believe hard enough, pray hard enough, have enough faith, speak the right words, and God will heal you.
00:40:47.420 --> 00:40:51.260
And if healing doesn't happen, somehow the blame comes back to you.
00:40:54.619 --> 00:40:59.260
And I think that's incredibly cruel to tell someone who's suffering.
00:41:00.220 --> 00:41:03.019
More importantly, I don't think it's what scripture teaches.
00:41:03.579 --> 00:41:04.780
Faith matters.
00:41:04.940 --> 00:41:06.460
Don't get me wrong.
00:41:06.780 --> 00:41:09.660
Jesus absolutely talks about faith.
00:41:11.660 --> 00:41:16.860
But it's not a currency that we accumulate until we have enough to purchase a miracle from God.
00:41:17.340 --> 00:41:22.780
God's not obligated to do what we ask simply because we believe strongly enough.
00:41:23.099 --> 00:41:27.180
Because if that were true, a prayer wouldn't be a prayer, it'd be a transaction.
00:41:27.579 --> 00:41:29.660
And God would no longer be God.
00:41:31.260 --> 00:41:32.460
We would be.
00:41:44.860 --> 00:41:47.900
This is the man who encountered the risen Jesus.
00:41:48.220 --> 00:41:49.980
He planted churches.
00:41:50.460 --> 00:41:53.500
In fact, he wrote much of the New Testament.
00:41:55.500 --> 00:41:59.099
This is a man that God used in extraordinary ways.
00:41:59.260 --> 00:42:03.900
And Paul had something in his life that he desperately wanted God to remove.
00:42:04.539 --> 00:42:07.820
He called it a thorn in the flesh.
00:42:08.780 --> 00:42:10.940
You guys have heard this story before.
00:42:11.099 --> 00:42:12.539
We've talked about this.
00:42:12.780 --> 00:42:14.539
We don't know exactly what it was.
00:42:14.780 --> 00:42:23.340
People have debated it for centuries, but we know Paul wanted it gone and he prayed about it not once, but three times.
00:42:27.740 --> 00:42:43.980
So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
00:42:47.500 --> 00:42:52.700
Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.
00:42:54.780 --> 00:42:58.700
But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you.
00:42:59.019 --> 00:43:02.220
My power is made perfect in weakness.
00:43:02.460 --> 00:43:09.500
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
00:43:10.300 --> 00:43:17.099
For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.
00:43:17.420 --> 00:43:20.940
For when I am weak, then I am strong.
00:43:22.139 --> 00:43:27.340
Paul prayed, God heard him, and God's answer was no.
00:43:29.099 --> 00:43:35.180
Not because he didn't have faith or that he prayed wrong, and not because Paul wasn't spiritual enough.
00:43:35.980 --> 00:43:39.980
God simply had a purpose that Paul couldn't see.
00:43:42.940 --> 00:43:48.220
I hope that this changes the way we think about unanswered prayers.
00:43:48.940 --> 00:43:57.980
Because God, his refusal to remove something isn't evidence that he's abandoned us.
00:43:58.220 --> 00:44:04.059
Sometimes his grace meets us inside the thing we desperately wanted him to remove.
00:44:07.420 --> 00:44:13.500
Jesus even prayed and didn't get the response he was hoping for.
00:44:15.099 --> 00:44:19.500
The night before the crucifixion, Jesus knew exactly what was coming.
00:44:19.740 --> 00:44:24.780
He knew the suffering, the humiliation, the cross, and he still prayed.
00:44:25.019 --> 00:44:27.500
Matthew 26, 36 through 39.
00:44:27.900 --> 00:44:30.700
Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane.
00:44:31.740 --> 00:44:36.460
And he said to his disciples, Sit here while I go over there and pray.
00:44:37.099 --> 00:44:42.619
And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
00:44:42.780 --> 00:44:47.660
And he said to them, My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.
00:44:49.340 --> 00:44:51.579
Remain here and watch with me.
00:44:52.300 --> 00:45:01.260
And going a little further, he fell on his face and prayed, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.
00:45:03.019 --> 00:45:07.980
Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.
00:45:11.180 --> 00:45:12.460
Think about that.
00:45:16.300 --> 00:45:20.300
Jesus asks, let this cup pass from me.
00:45:20.700 --> 00:45:27.099
And then, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.
00:45:27.579 --> 00:45:29.420
That's not weak faith.
00:45:30.059 --> 00:45:32.220
That's perfect faith.
00:45:33.579 --> 00:45:38.059
Because faith isn't believing strongly enough that God will do exactly what I want.
00:45:38.700 --> 00:45:47.340
Biblical faith is trusting God, even when he doesn't do what I want.
00:45:49.180 --> 00:45:54.539
That is a very amazing definition of faith.
00:45:56.860 --> 00:46:01.340
Sometimes we think faith means saying, I know God's going to heal me.
00:46:02.220 --> 00:46:06.539
But unless God specifically promised that outcome, we don't know that.
00:46:08.460 --> 00:46:09.579
Faith says something different.
00:46:09.820 --> 00:46:14.059
Faith says, I know God can heal me.
00:46:14.780 --> 00:46:20.380
And then, but I trust him, even if he doesn't.
00:46:23.019 --> 00:46:25.660
Those are incredibly different words.
00:46:25.900 --> 00:46:28.300
And they're incredibly difficult to say.
00:46:29.820 --> 00:46:31.660
But we've heard them before.
00:46:31.980 --> 00:46:38.460
Three men in the book of Daniel were facing execution because they refused to worship King Nebuchadnezzar's golden image.
00:46:38.700 --> 00:46:41.740
And they were about to be thrown into a furnace.
00:46:43.740 --> 00:46:45.900
And listen to what they told the king.
00:46:46.300 --> 00:46:49.579
Daniel 3, verses 16 through 18.
00:46:49.820 --> 00:46:59.420
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneco answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
00:46:59.660 --> 00:47:10.220
If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
00:47:10.539 --> 00:47:19.900
But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.
00:47:21.579 --> 00:47:22.700
There it is.
00:47:23.180 --> 00:47:27.820
Three of the most powerful words of faith in the Bible.
00:47:28.300 --> 00:47:29.900
What three words?
00:47:32.059 --> 00:47:33.260
But if not.
00:47:36.380 --> 00:47:37.500
You see, God can.
00:47:37.660 --> 00:47:38.780
We believe he can.
00:47:38.940 --> 00:47:40.539
We're asking him to.
00:47:41.099 --> 00:47:44.460
But if not, he's still God.
00:47:47.180 --> 00:47:48.700
And that's faith.
00:47:54.860 --> 00:47:57.660
Now we arrive to the question that I cannot answer.
00:47:57.980 --> 00:48:02.539
I can't answer a lot of questions, but the one that relates to this podcast.
00:48:03.579 --> 00:48:07.260
Why does one person recover and another person doesn't?
00:48:11.420 --> 00:48:15.099
Why does one family receive the phone call they've been begging God for?
00:48:15.260 --> 00:48:19.579
And why does another family receive the phone call they've been terrified of?
00:48:23.820 --> 00:48:24.619
I don't know.
00:48:24.860 --> 00:48:28.300
And I don't think pretending to know honors God in any form or fashion.
00:48:28.539 --> 00:48:31.980
There are mysteries we simply aren't given the answers to.
00:48:32.300 --> 00:48:36.619
Isaiah reminds us of the distance between God's understanding and ours.
00:48:36.780 --> 00:48:39.260
Isaiah 55, 8 through 9.
00:48:39.660 --> 00:48:45.980
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
00:48:46.460 --> 00:48:54.059
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
00:48:55.420 --> 00:48:58.940
That verse doesn't make suffering painless.
00:48:59.260 --> 00:49:07.579
It doesn't answer every why, but it reminds us that our inability to understand God's actions doesn't mean that God has stopped being God.
00:49:09.820 --> 00:49:13.579
You see, there are things that we see from ground level.
00:49:15.099 --> 00:49:17.260
God sees the entire story.
00:49:17.740 --> 00:49:22.380
Sometimes we don't get the explanation that we desperately want.
00:49:27.820 --> 00:49:30.619
There's something else I want to say along these veins.
00:49:32.860 --> 00:49:41.019
If what happened to me is a miracle, it does not mean that God loves me more than one person who still needs that heart transplant.
00:49:41.260 --> 00:49:44.300
It doesn't mean that my prayers were better.
00:49:44.860 --> 00:49:50.539
It doesn't mean the people praying for me had more faith or that somehow I earned God's favor.
00:49:51.500 --> 00:49:53.340
Grace doesn't work that way.
00:49:55.579 --> 00:49:59.500
A miracle is not a trophy or a spiritual achievement.
00:50:00.380 --> 00:50:01.660
It's grace.
00:50:02.300 --> 00:50:06.700
And grace, by definition, is 100% undeserved.
00:50:09.740 --> 00:50:12.460
And that's why the only response is humility.
00:50:13.260 --> 00:50:20.619
Not look how strong my faith was, but look how good God has been to me.
00:50:26.780 --> 00:50:31.660
I want to be careful saying this because I never want to minimize someone's suffering.
00:50:32.220 --> 00:50:36.059
If you're praying for healing, it is okay to want healing.
00:50:36.220 --> 00:50:42.619
Or if you're praying for someone that you love to survive, it is okay to desperately want that.
00:50:43.260 --> 00:50:51.260
We don't have to pretend those things don't matter, but scripture teaches us that God's ultimate promise isn't that we will avoid suffering.
00:50:51.500 --> 00:50:55.579
His promise is that suffering doesn't get the final word.
00:50:57.900 --> 00:51:11.660
Paul writes in Romans 8, 35 through 39, who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
00:51:15.500 --> 00:51:21.019
As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long.
00:51:21.260 --> 00:51:24.380
We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
00:51:26.619 --> 00:51:31.900
No, in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
00:51:32.139 --> 00:51:49.180
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
00:51:53.980 --> 00:51:55.500
Read that again.
00:51:57.900 --> 00:52:00.139
And notice what Paul doesn't say.
00:52:00.539 --> 00:52:03.660
He doesn't say Christians won't experience suffering.
00:52:04.220 --> 00:52:07.740
He says suffering cannot separate us from Christ.
00:52:08.059 --> 00:52:11.180
Even death can't separate us from Christ.
00:52:11.579 --> 00:52:14.139
And that is the Christian hope.
00:52:15.740 --> 00:52:18.700
So today, yeah, I'm celebrating.
00:52:18.780 --> 00:52:20.059
I am grateful.
00:52:20.619 --> 00:52:22.380
I am overwhelmed.
00:52:23.420 --> 00:52:26.780
And I will continually thank God for what has happened in my life.
00:52:26.940 --> 00:52:33.579
I'm going to thank him for the doctors, the medicine, the people that prayed, the people who encouraged me.
00:52:33.660 --> 00:52:35.980
And I'm going to call what happened a miracle.
00:52:38.139 --> 00:52:41.500
But I'm not going to turn that into somebody else's condemnation.
00:52:44.619 --> 00:52:48.300
I'm not going to tell the person still waiting that you need more faith.
00:52:49.420 --> 00:52:53.180
Or that the grieving family, I'm not going to say you didn't pray hard enough.
00:52:53.980 --> 00:52:59.260
I'm not going to pretend I understand why my story went in this direction and someone else's didn't.
00:53:00.460 --> 00:53:07.820
Instead, I will sit beside them and I will pray with them and I will believe with them and I will remind them.
00:53:09.180 --> 00:53:10.860
God is still with you.
00:53:17.579 --> 00:53:27.500
So if miracles still happen, but they're not guaranteed, how should we pray?
00:53:27.980 --> 00:53:30.139
Should we pray boldly for healing?
00:53:30.380 --> 00:53:31.660
Absolutely.
00:53:32.380 --> 00:53:34.539
Should we expect God to act?
00:53:34.780 --> 00:53:35.420
Yes.
00:53:36.460 --> 00:53:39.500
Should we demand a particular outcome?
00:53:39.820 --> 00:53:40.139
No.
00:53:44.139 --> 00:53:50.700
So in this last piece, we're going to talk about what it actually looks like to pray for a miracle.
00:53:50.860 --> 00:53:54.780
How to pray boldly without trying to control God.
00:53:55.900 --> 00:54:00.539
And I will emphasize again, without trying to control God.
00:54:03.820 --> 00:54:08.860
We'll talk about how to use medicine without believing medicine replaces God.
00:54:11.500 --> 00:54:17.340
How to celebrate extraordinary answers without pretending that we understand every unanswered prayer.
00:54:17.740 --> 00:54:36.940
And then I want to come back one final time to the news I received because after spending so much time on this podcast talking about trusting God when I don't understand, today I finally get to talk about what happens when the answer is one that you've desperately been praying for.
00:54:41.260 --> 00:54:44.220
So miracles are woven throughout scripture.
00:54:45.579 --> 00:54:55.820
We talked about the fact that Christians may disagree about miraculous spiritual gifts today, while still believing that God is completely capable of acting in extraordinary ways.
00:54:56.460 --> 00:55:06.380
We talked about healing, we've talked about medicine, we've talked about unanswered prayer, and about Paul asking to remove a thorn and God saying no.
00:55:07.820 --> 00:55:11.740
We talked about Jesus in Gethsemane praying, not my will but yours.
00:55:11.900 --> 00:55:18.700
We've talked about three men standing in front of a furnace saying, Yeah, God can save us.
00:55:20.539 --> 00:55:24.700
But even if he doesn't, we're still not walking away from him.
00:55:26.780 --> 00:55:28.860
So where's that leave us now?
00:55:31.820 --> 00:55:33.579
How should we pray?
00:55:34.139 --> 00:55:36.700
And I think the answer is pretty simple.
00:55:37.500 --> 00:55:42.059
Be bold, be specific, and be expectant.
00:55:43.340 --> 00:55:46.220
And most of all, surrender.
00:55:51.420 --> 00:55:54.860
Sometimes I think Christians are afraid to ask God for big things.
00:55:55.019 --> 00:55:59.260
We hedge our prayers, we protect ourselves from disappointment.
00:55:59.900 --> 00:56:14.139
We say things like, God, I know this probably won't happen, but before we've even finished asking, but Scripture doesn't tell us to approach God timidly.
00:56:15.500 --> 00:56:19.740
Listen to Hebrews, Hebrews 4, 14 through 16.
00:56:20.059 --> 00:56:25.099
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens.
00:56:25.340 --> 00:56:29.820
Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
00:56:30.380 --> 00:56:40.539
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
00:56:41.500 --> 00:56:49.820
Then let us with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
00:56:51.500 --> 00:56:52.460
I love that.
00:56:53.740 --> 00:57:04.780
With confidence, not arrogance, not entitlement, but confidence.
00:57:05.660 --> 00:57:11.900
Because we are not approaching a stranger, we're approaching our Father through Jesus Christ.
00:57:16.940 --> 00:57:20.700
So if you're sick, ask God to heal you.
00:57:21.340 --> 00:57:24.780
If someone you love is sick, ask God to heal them.
00:57:26.380 --> 00:57:33.260
If the doctors say something looks impossible, you are absolutely allowed to ask God for the impossible.
00:57:34.940 --> 00:57:39.660
Remember what Jesus said, what is impossible with man is possible with God.
00:57:39.900 --> 00:57:41.500
So pray big.
00:57:42.940 --> 00:57:44.220
Pray big.
00:57:46.780 --> 00:57:47.980
Be specific.
00:57:49.420 --> 00:57:53.099
You see, there's something else we see repeatedly in scripture.
00:57:53.420 --> 00:57:57.420
People told Jesus exactly what they wanted.
00:57:58.940 --> 00:58:06.780
Mark chapter 10, a blind man named Bartolemaeus hears that Jesus is passing by and begins crying out for him.
00:58:07.260 --> 00:58:09.420
And eventually Jesus calls him over.
00:58:09.579 --> 00:58:14.860
And Jesus asks him what really seems like a strange question.
00:58:15.180 --> 00:58:17.099
Mark 10, 51, 52.
00:58:17.260 --> 00:58:21.980
And Jesus said to him, What do you want me to do for you?
00:58:22.780 --> 00:58:29.019
And the blind man said to him, Rabbi, let me recover my sight.
00:58:30.059 --> 00:58:33.260
And Jesus said to him, Go your way.
00:58:33.900 --> 00:58:35.660
Your faith has made you well.
00:58:36.059 --> 00:58:39.660
And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
00:58:40.700 --> 00:58:44.700
Jesus knew Bartolemaus was blind.
00:58:45.340 --> 00:58:47.180
He didn't need the information.
00:58:48.059 --> 00:58:53.660
But he wanted him to ask, What do you want me to do for you?
00:58:55.260 --> 00:58:59.660
And Bartolemaus answered specifically, I want to see.
00:59:01.980 --> 00:59:04.940
See, there's something beautiful about that kind of prayer.
00:59:05.420 --> 00:59:11.660
Not just, God, can you just make stuff better for me?
00:59:13.420 --> 00:59:17.420
But God, this is what I'm asking you for.
00:59:19.260 --> 00:59:23.420
I'm asking for a lot, but in this one, for me, it meant praying about my heart.
00:59:23.500 --> 00:59:25.340
Not vaguely, but specifically.
00:59:25.660 --> 00:59:28.220
God, I don't want a heart transplant.
00:59:28.780 --> 00:59:31.740
If it is your will, heal my heart.
00:59:31.980 --> 00:59:32.940
Strengthen it.
00:59:33.099 --> 00:59:34.220
Let the treatment work.
00:59:34.380 --> 00:59:35.660
Let the numbers change.
00:59:35.820 --> 00:59:37.660
Let there be another way.
00:59:41.579 --> 00:59:44.220
We are still on that journey, folks.
00:59:49.900 --> 00:59:54.539
If I don't take care of myself, my heart could go back in the other direction.
00:59:57.500 --> 01:00:05.420
And if it does, I'm not walking away from the one who answered my prayers.
01:00:14.059 --> 01:00:17.579
But I can tell you I'm not squandering this second chance.
01:00:21.019 --> 01:00:23.820
Because I prayed for this and I was specific.
01:00:25.340 --> 01:00:30.860
And by his grace alone, right now I have that opportunity.
01:00:32.300 --> 01:00:36.619
See, there's nothing wrong with telling God exactly what you want.
01:00:36.940 --> 01:00:38.780
Jesus did it in Gethsemane.
01:00:38.940 --> 01:00:41.180
Lord, let this cup pass from me.
01:00:41.420 --> 01:00:45.740
The surrender came afterwards, but first he asked.
01:00:49.980 --> 01:00:57.579
And this is where prayer becomes difficult because after we say, God, here's what I want, we eventually have to add, but I trust you.
01:00:57.820 --> 01:00:59.579
And that's not easy.
01:00:59.900 --> 01:01:03.500
Especially when the thing we're praying about is completely life-changing.
01:01:04.220 --> 01:01:08.539
But you see, that's the difference between faith and trying to control God.
01:01:11.740 --> 01:01:24.139
Jesus gave us the model, Matthew 26, 39, and going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.
01:01:25.180 --> 01:01:30.300
Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.
01:01:32.539 --> 01:01:33.740
And that's the prayer.
01:01:33.980 --> 01:01:35.660
See, here's what I want, God.
01:01:35.820 --> 01:01:37.099
Here's what I'm asking.
01:01:37.340 --> 01:01:39.180
Here's what I'm begging you for.
01:01:41.420 --> 01:01:45.260
And I still trust you with the answer.
01:01:47.019 --> 01:01:48.619
That's not giving up.
01:01:48.940 --> 01:01:50.380
That's surrender.
01:01:58.940 --> 01:02:08.860
I want to come back to something quickly before I end, because I think it's important.
01:02:10.380 --> 01:02:13.980
Praying for a miracle doesn't mean refusing medical treatment.
01:02:14.380 --> 01:02:17.740
Trusting God doesn't mean ignoring doctors.
01:02:18.059 --> 01:02:23.900
See, faith and medicine don't have to stand on opposite sides of the room glaring at each other.
01:02:24.220 --> 01:02:25.980
If you're sick, pray.
01:02:26.300 --> 01:02:26.940
Yes.
01:02:28.139 --> 01:02:29.900
But go to the doctor.
01:02:31.579 --> 01:02:33.260
Take the medication.
01:02:34.220 --> 01:02:35.820
Ask questions.
01:02:36.139 --> 01:02:38.380
Get a second opinion if you need one.
01:02:38.619 --> 01:02:43.579
Follow your treatment plans and pray through every doggone bit of it.
01:02:43.900 --> 01:02:46.300
I don't think God is threatened by medicine.
01:02:46.539 --> 01:02:50.220
If anything, I think we should be incredibly grateful for it.
01:02:50.700 --> 01:02:56.940
The knowledge, the technology, the people who spend their lives learning how to care for the human body.
01:02:57.180 --> 01:03:03.260
I can thank God for healing and thank the people that he may have used along the way.
01:03:06.059 --> 01:03:10.059
There's one more part of miracles that we don't talk about enough.
01:03:11.019 --> 01:03:12.220
Gratitude.
01:03:13.900 --> 01:03:17.740
Luke tells us about ten men with leprosy who encountered Jesus.
01:03:17.980 --> 01:03:21.579
All ten were healed, but something really interesting happened afterwards.
01:03:21.820 --> 01:03:23.980
Luke 17, 11 through 19.
01:03:24.139 --> 01:03:28.700
On the way to Jerusalem, he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.
01:03:28.860 --> 01:03:36.700
As he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
01:03:36.940 --> 01:03:40.940
And when he saw them, he said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priests.
01:03:41.420 --> 01:03:44.059
And as they went, they were cleansed.
01:03:44.300 --> 01:03:56.619
Then one of them, when he saw when he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks.
01:03:58.300 --> 01:04:00.139
Now he was a Samaritan.
01:04:01.980 --> 01:04:05.420
And Jesus answered, Were not ten cleansed?
01:04:05.740 --> 01:04:07.260
Where are the nine?
01:04:07.740 --> 01:04:13.579
Was no one found to return to give praise to God except this foreigner?
01:04:14.139 --> 01:04:16.860
And he said to him, Rise and go your way.
01:04:17.260 --> 01:04:19.180
Your faith has made you well.
01:04:21.260 --> 01:04:26.220
Ten received the gift, but only one came back.
01:04:26.940 --> 01:04:28.940
I don't want to be one of the nine.
01:04:29.180 --> 01:04:35.820
I don't want to spend months praying and then receive incredible news and simply move on with my life.
01:04:36.460 --> 01:04:37.900
I want to turn around.
01:04:38.059 --> 01:04:41.180
I want to come back and I want to say thank you.
01:04:48.860 --> 01:04:50.700
There's another danger here.
01:04:52.059 --> 01:04:56.940
Sometimes we become so obsessed with miracles that miracles become the point of Christianity.
01:04:57.180 --> 01:04:57.980
They're not.
01:04:58.300 --> 01:05:04.300
Healing is wonderful, but eventually every person healed in the Bible still died.
01:05:05.019 --> 01:05:07.019
Lazarus was raised from the dead.
01:05:07.260 --> 01:05:08.139
Amazing.
01:05:08.460 --> 01:05:11.180
But Lazarus eventually died again.
01:05:11.820 --> 01:05:16.300
Physical healing wasn't the ultimate destination.
01:05:17.019 --> 01:05:18.139
Jesus was.
01:05:19.099 --> 01:05:23.420
The greatest miracle God offers isn't a healthier body, it's a resurrected life.
01:05:23.660 --> 01:05:28.700
Forgiveness, redemption, reconciliation with God, eternal life through Jesus Christ.
01:05:28.860 --> 01:05:32.700
That's why miracles should always point beyond themselves.
01:05:32.940 --> 01:05:36.380
They point us to the one who still performs them.
01:05:39.579 --> 01:05:42.539
So do miracles still happen?
01:05:42.700 --> 01:05:44.380
And that's the question we started with.
01:05:44.539 --> 01:05:46.940
And after everything we talked about, here's where I land.
01:05:47.099 --> 01:05:49.740
Yes, I believe God still acts.
01:05:49.900 --> 01:05:51.579
I believe God still heals.
01:05:51.740 --> 01:05:53.500
I believe God still intervenes.
01:05:53.579 --> 01:05:57.420
And I believe we should still pray for things that seem impossible.
01:05:57.660 --> 01:06:02.300
But I also believe we need humility when we use the word miracle.
01:06:03.019 --> 01:06:07.579
I can't scientifically prove to you that God supernaturally changed me.
01:06:07.980 --> 01:06:11.180
I'm not even interested in pretending that I can.
01:06:11.340 --> 01:06:14.940
There are doctors involved in my story, and there will continue to be.
01:06:15.099 --> 01:06:19.740
There are medications and treatments and medical explanations that matter.
01:06:20.300 --> 01:06:22.940
And I am grateful for every single one of them.
01:06:23.180 --> 01:06:29.180
But none of those things prevent me from believing that God has been working through this entire story.
01:06:31.900 --> 01:06:35.660
Because maybe the question isn't was God, was it God or medicine?
01:06:35.900 --> 01:06:40.220
Maybe sometimes the answer is yes.
01:06:40.780 --> 01:06:41.820
It was both.
01:06:57.099 --> 01:06:59.660
I don't know why someone else's story doesn't.
01:06:59.900 --> 01:07:05.260
I don't know why some prayers receive the answer we desperately wanted, while others are met with silence.
01:07:06.539 --> 01:07:13.500
But I have spent enough time walking with God to know that I don't have all those answers, and I don't think I'm supposed to.
01:07:15.820 --> 01:07:17.340
But I do know this.
01:07:18.300 --> 01:07:26.220
I have talked on this podcast about trusting God when he says no.
01:07:27.260 --> 01:07:31.660
I've talked about following him when I don't understand what he's doing.
01:07:33.180 --> 01:07:36.139
I've talked about faith when life hurts.
01:07:36.380 --> 01:07:37.820
I've talked about waiting.
01:07:37.980 --> 01:07:39.420
I've talked about doubt.
01:07:39.579 --> 01:07:42.860
I've talked about what happens when God feels silent.
01:07:43.019 --> 01:07:47.019
And today, I get to talk about something different.
01:07:47.420 --> 01:07:55.019
Today, I get to tell you what happened when the answer I desperately wanted was yes.
01:08:02.059 --> 01:08:04.300
And I don't want to rush past that.
01:08:06.940 --> 01:08:11.820
I don't want to analyze it until I've removed every ounce of wonder.
01:08:12.940 --> 01:08:17.260
I don't want to become so sophisticated that gratitude feels naive.
01:08:17.500 --> 01:08:19.340
So today I'm gonna say it again.
01:08:19.420 --> 01:08:20.939
I've said it a hundred times.
01:08:21.260 --> 01:08:22.139
Thank you.
01:08:26.300 --> 01:08:31.420
Thank you, God, for carrying me when I was afraid.
01:08:32.220 --> 01:08:33.819
Thank you for my family.
01:08:33.979 --> 01:08:40.939
Thank you for the people who prayed for me, the doctors, the nurses, for the medicine.
01:08:43.420 --> 01:08:49.099
For every person that you've used throughout my journey, and for every day that you've given me.
01:08:49.340 --> 01:08:55.579
And thank you that today I don't need a heart transplant.
01:09:01.420 --> 01:09:07.340
Maybe you're listening today and you are waiting for your miracle.
01:09:08.619 --> 01:09:09.819
Keep praying.
01:09:10.059 --> 01:09:11.500
Ask boldly.
01:09:11.819 --> 01:09:13.739
Ask specifically.
01:09:14.300 --> 01:09:16.059
And believe that God can.
01:09:17.979 --> 01:09:22.139
Use every resource he's put in front of you and then trust him.
01:09:22.939 --> 01:09:25.899
Look, I can't promise you're gonna get the answer you're hoping for.
01:09:26.059 --> 01:09:28.859
Nobody, honestly, teaching scripture can.
01:09:29.099 --> 01:09:31.180
But I can promise you something better.
01:09:31.420 --> 01:09:34.859
Whatever the answer, you will not face it alone.
01:09:35.180 --> 01:09:40.460
God is still God when the answer is yes, but God is still God when the answer is wait.
01:09:40.779 --> 01:09:45.019
And God is still God when we don't understand the answer at all.
01:09:46.619 --> 01:09:48.300
So pray for that miracle.
01:09:48.539 --> 01:09:55.099
Believe God can do it, and trust the miracle worker more than the miracle itself.
01:09:57.420 --> 01:10:00.139
Thank you for listening to Bible basically.
01:10:01.899 --> 01:10:03.659
Sorry, I'm kind of a mess.
01:10:03.979 --> 01:10:07.979
This episode is obviously a little more personal than most of them.
01:10:08.059 --> 01:10:10.939
And if you've been praying for me, thank you.
01:10:11.260 --> 01:10:13.420
Seriously, thank you.
01:10:14.859 --> 01:10:21.819
And if you know someone who's waiting on their own miracle right now, then, you know, send them this episode.
01:10:22.779 --> 01:10:40.139
Not because I can promise them how their story ends, but sometimes we all need to be reminded that God is still listening, God is still working, and that God is still worthy of our trust, whether we're celebrating or waiting or trying to understand.
01:10:41.579 --> 01:10:48.139
Until next time, let's keep figuring out faith together.