Everyday Miracles

Many, if not most, of Jesus’ miracles, were ordinary things done for ordinary people in very ordinary ways. There was no lightning bolt, no visible sign of angels flying around in the sky, no long speech preceding the miracle, no singing from heavenly hosts.   Instead, there was a quick prayer, conversation, mud, spittle, touch or a breath.

Jesus showed extraordinary love in very ordinary ways. Someone needed healing and Jesus healed them. They asked; they got.

In the Gospel of John   (Chapter 14) Jesus tells his apostles, essentially, “you’ve seen, what I’ve done, you can do this yourself.   In fact, you can do even more because from now on, you’ll be asking me and then I’ll go to my Dad (he’s awesome, by the way) to make sure it happens.”

Yet still, offering miracles seems a tall task for us non-apostles. Unless, perhaps, we consider the ordinariness of the miracles.

When we do things in Jesus’ name, we heal others: We heal when we reach out to someone who’s hurting. We give sight to the blind when we use scripture to teach. We help the lame walk when we walk with them in the ways of Christ. We talk, we touch, we breathe, we pray, we love.

And others offer miracles for us as well.

The key is, as is so often the key to Jesus’ teaching, to recognize the miracles – those we perform and those that are performed for us. We need to take care not to miss the miracle while looking for the “sign.”

Then say “thanks!”

Here’s the kicker. It’s up to us to know when people need (and when we need) a miracle – the ask part.   It’s not always concretely evident. And it takes faith. And courage.

We need to be sensitive to our opportunities to heal, to give sight, to help walk. Thanks be to God!