Miracles
I preach at two churches. I've been pastor at a church in a tiny town of about 65 people for 3 1/2 years, and at another church in the countryside just since this past year. Yesterday morning I was driving south on my way to the country church, appreciating God's miracles, as I prepared to preach a message on God's Powerful Wisdom and Wise Power in Christ Crucified, from I Corinthians 1:20ff. Five whitetail deer bounded across the roadway a (safe) distance ahead of me, a sight to behold as they lept gracefully into a harvested cornfield, radiating the joy of jumping. Someone has said, "glory to God for dappled things". I sometimes wonder if animals can see God and spirit beings. Interesting that in Numbers 22:22ff, it is treated as a matter-of-fact that the donkey sees the Angel of the LORD, and that the only think pointed out as remarkable is that the donkey talked. Perhaps indeed our two (now deceased) cats Tigger & Kitty were seeing angels when, in different places and different times, they both looked intently at a certain spot overhead, close to, yet not directly at the ceiling. & Kitty Cat spent a lot of time sitting under our icon collection shortly before she died.
Back to yesterday's sermon, as I was speaking of miracles as signs of God's power, I made brief mention of a miracle the LORD allowed me to be in on a few weeks ago. "D", a family man in the country church, was recently diagnosed with "hairy-cell leukemia", fortunately the most treatable kind, but still a serious matter indeed. On his first day in the hospital in Sioux Falls, as a tube was being inserted for his 168-hour continuous chemo treatment, a needle touched the lining around his heart, and his heart rate and blood pressure jumped dangerously high. About that time was when I called him on the phone. I led a prayer for healing, according to God's will, and later I learned that as soon as we hung up the phone, he perceived that his heart was near to normal again. He told the nurses, who didn't believe it, because they expected it to persist until sometime the next morning. But they checked his pulse & pressure, & it was normal! They asked who was on the phone, and D said it was his pastor. The next morning his cancer doctor remarked that "that wasn't medicine, that was God".
Anyway, I made very brief mention of it during the sermon, but just before the closing hymn, D felt prompted to come up front and share the story with the church in greater detail, an emotional moment for him and a blessing for all.
The LORD makes His own decisions about how to answer each prayer. Even as I am blessed to have been along for the ride when He did this miracle, I think of times I have prayed for people and miraculous healings have not happened. God alone sees the big picture. Ultimately He does what glorifies Him the most, whatever that is, and I believe also does what will help people the most in reaching Heaven. Glory be to God for His miracles, and His powerful wisdom and wise power, seen most in Christ Crucified!
Back to yesterday's sermon, as I was speaking of miracles as signs of God's power, I made brief mention of a miracle the LORD allowed me to be in on a few weeks ago. "D", a family man in the country church, was recently diagnosed with "hairy-cell leukemia", fortunately the most treatable kind, but still a serious matter indeed. On his first day in the hospital in Sioux Falls, as a tube was being inserted for his 168-hour continuous chemo treatment, a needle touched the lining around his heart, and his heart rate and blood pressure jumped dangerously high. About that time was when I called him on the phone. I led a prayer for healing, according to God's will, and later I learned that as soon as we hung up the phone, he perceived that his heart was near to normal again. He told the nurses, who didn't believe it, because they expected it to persist until sometime the next morning. But they checked his pulse & pressure, & it was normal! They asked who was on the phone, and D said it was his pastor. The next morning his cancer doctor remarked that "that wasn't medicine, that was God".
Anyway, I made very brief mention of it during the sermon, but just before the closing hymn, D felt prompted to come up front and share the story with the church in greater detail, an emotional moment for him and a blessing for all.
The LORD makes His own decisions about how to answer each prayer. Even as I am blessed to have been along for the ride when He did this miracle, I think of times I have prayed for people and miraculous healings have not happened. God alone sees the big picture. Ultimately He does what glorifies Him the most, whatever that is, and I believe also does what will help people the most in reaching Heaven. Glory be to God for His miracles, and His powerful wisdom and wise power, seen most in Christ Crucified!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home