"And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that He hath spoken: 'Behold, I will bring again the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.' So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down." Isaiah 38:7, 8 (Rev. Marg.)
God's miracles are not His "bail out" maneuver. He does not do them simply because someone needs bailed out of their problems. He does them for one reason only: to reveal His control of all things and His will for all things. His control is dramatic, but His will is subtle. "This sign shall be so that you will know that the Lord will do this thing that He hath spoken." The dramatic miracle (i.e., moving the sun back ten degrees) was a seal of certainty on the subtle miracle (i.e., Hezekiah's sickness).
Such a thing has happened before. God did not send the ten plagues on Egypt because there was no other way to save His people. The plagues taught Israel, as well as Egypt, Who was in control. They were the dramatic miracle; the grand, subtle miracle of His will was the covenant of Mt. Sinai. No flash, no flair; just God's promise that Israel would always be His people. Why was the promise certain? "I am the Lord thy God, Who hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt." (Exodus 20:2) The dramatic made certain the subtle.
Jesus was the same. The grand, subtle miracle of the Incarnation was preluded by the dramatic of a virgin birth, angels in the heavens, and a star in the sky. The grand, subtle miracle of Christ's ministry was the redemption of the atonement, a redemption hid within the agony of the cross. What purpose served all that flair and publicity, all those calming of storms and the feeding of thousands? So that all would know that He is who He said He is: the Son of God, the Messiah come to redeem all people. Again, the dramatic made certain the subtle.
The grand, subtle miracle of the Christian life is that intimate communion with God (John 17:3, 20-23). There will be moments, if we are awake, when drama comes, when the bill gets paid, when the work gets completed, when the disease his gone, when the unconquerable obstacle is suddenly overcome. We are to revel and glorify in such things, but remember that they are not the keynote of our lives. They are "signs" pointing us to the real keynote. They are but glorious echoes leading us to the real song, a song that is much deeper and more hidden, that is "further up and further in." It is the song of the inner workings of our communion with God, of our union with the most terrifying and intoxicating of presences, a song that will culminate in a crescendo that is never-ending. The dramatic makes certain the subtle: these miraculous things that happen in our lives are precious reminders of the reality of our communion with God. He has not, will not, and shall not forget His beloved; and all these signs make that sure. They are, however, mere taste of the water that we will one day drown in with wondrous rapture.
If you ever find yourself asking how these things can be, watch for or remember when those precious reminders came, and remember that "these shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that He hath spoken."
"Heaven is with us,
In the moment, every moment,
Heaven in the here and now.
What bubbles to the surface are mere glimpses
Of the deeper Life to come..."
-Jon Vowell
God's miracles are not His "bail out" maneuver. He does not do them simply because someone needs bailed out of their problems. He does them for one reason only: to reveal His control of all things and His will for all things. His control is dramatic, but His will is subtle. "This sign shall be so that you will know that the Lord will do this thing that He hath spoken." The dramatic miracle (i.e., moving the sun back ten degrees) was a seal of certainty on the subtle miracle (i.e., Hezekiah's sickness).
Such a thing has happened before. God did not send the ten plagues on Egypt because there was no other way to save His people. The plagues taught Israel, as well as Egypt, Who was in control. They were the dramatic miracle; the grand, subtle miracle of His will was the covenant of Mt. Sinai. No flash, no flair; just God's promise that Israel would always be His people. Why was the promise certain? "I am the Lord thy God, Who hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt." (Exodus 20:2) The dramatic made certain the subtle.
Jesus was the same. The grand, subtle miracle of the Incarnation was preluded by the dramatic of a virgin birth, angels in the heavens, and a star in the sky. The grand, subtle miracle of Christ's ministry was the redemption of the atonement, a redemption hid within the agony of the cross. What purpose served all that flair and publicity, all those calming of storms and the feeding of thousands? So that all would know that He is who He said He is: the Son of God, the Messiah come to redeem all people. Again, the dramatic made certain the subtle.
The grand, subtle miracle of the Christian life is that intimate communion with God (John 17:3, 20-23). There will be moments, if we are awake, when drama comes, when the bill gets paid, when the work gets completed, when the disease his gone, when the unconquerable obstacle is suddenly overcome. We are to revel and glorify in such things, but remember that they are not the keynote of our lives. They are "signs" pointing us to the real keynote. They are but glorious echoes leading us to the real song, a song that is much deeper and more hidden, that is "further up and further in." It is the song of the inner workings of our communion with God, of our union with the most terrifying and intoxicating of presences, a song that will culminate in a crescendo that is never-ending. The dramatic makes certain the subtle: these miraculous things that happen in our lives are precious reminders of the reality of our communion with God. He has not, will not, and shall not forget His beloved; and all these signs make that sure. They are, however, mere taste of the water that we will one day drown in with wondrous rapture.
If you ever find yourself asking how these things can be, watch for or remember when those precious reminders came, and remember that "these shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that He hath spoken."
"Heaven is with us,
In the moment, every moment,
Heaven in the here and now.
What bubbles to the surface are mere glimpses
Of the deeper Life to come..."
-Jon Vowell
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