2:42 And they continued
steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread,
and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs
were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had
all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them
among all, as anyone had need.
Miracles. Signs and wonders. Undeniable demonstrations of
supernatural power. These are rare today. What is even more strange is that
when they happen we seem to be a coma. It's like being at a large sports event
and the winning goal or point is scored in dramatic fashion and not a sound or
reaction comes from the crowd. I can't explain it but I can give you some
examples.

The instant I read those words I had the overwhelming sense
from God "these words apply to you also." A peace came over me I can't explain. My wife couldn't
understand how I could be so calm.
A week went by after the surgery and no phone call came.
Another day passed. No call. Finally after two weeks my wife couldn't wait any
longer and we called the surgeon's office ourselves. His secretary assured us
he would call that day and he did. He confesses he was confused and
dumbfounded. The pathology report came back negative. He went down and ran the
tests on the tumor himself. Still negative. He said he has taken cancer from people
countless times. He knows what it is and it made no sense. It was not possible.
He did not know what to do with me. We agreed that he would check me every
three months to see if the tumor returned. At the first checkup he had an
intern with him besides a nurse assisting. When he looked inside my bladder he
let out this sound of amazement. I asked what was wrong. He said there was
nothing wrong. The healing was so complete he said he couldn't tell any surgery
had ever occurred or that there was ever a problem. I told him "that is
why it's called a miracle". He looked at me with an intensity in his eyes
I have rarely seen and he said in front of the nurse and the intern "It is
a miracle."
But do you know what's strange? I have seen a man with a
tumor so large that it was forcing his eyeball from it's socket yet when he was
taken in for surgery they discovered the tumor was gone. I have seen a man
heading for blindness recover his sight back to better than it was before the
deterioration began with no medical intervention. Dramatic miracles still
happen yet even when they do we seem to be in a stupor. It doesn't really seem
to register.
Eleven years have passed and though I have never forgotten I
have never celebrated the miracle either. I rarely speak of it. Research says
bladder cancer patients survive an average of 3 to 5 years after initial
diagnosis. I have never had a treatment post surgery and other than a cold or
flu have never been sick since.
Perhaps we are numb to miracles because often they don't happen.
My mom had cancer too and she died. Yesterday a colleague in ministry, Gayle
Tucker, too died of cancer so quickly that I can barely catch my breath. I
could hardly sleep last night thinking of what her husband and family are going
through. Wondering why there was no miracle for her. Wondering why I'm still
alive. Wondering...
The church in the time of Acts was filled with miracles.
Today they are much less frequent. In the time of the prophet Samuel the Bible
says any evidence of God's supernatural activity among them was rare.
What does this all mean? Usually God seems distant when we
are distant from Him but that isn't always the case. Paul prayed for healing
and God’s answer was no. There was no miracle to rescue Jesus from our
murderous hands. At the end of the day it comes down to trust. Trust that God
knows and when the Story ends we will see and understand that all His decisions
were perfect no matter how confusing or painful they were at the time.
Like my grandma's favourite hymn says: "Trust and obey
for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."
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