Magic vs. Witchcraft Part 2: Understanding Miracles and Power

Magic vs. Witchcraft Part 2

Understanding Miracles and Power

Now that I have pretty much made it seem that people without a special gift are pretty much powerless, I want to now help you understand that this is not true.  Each and every person is bestowed with a certain measure of power in this world.  Some have more power than others.  Jesus taught on more than one occasion that when someone is faithful with a little they are given more. 

Have you ever felt like God was not there?  When you prayed, did you feel like it was useless?  Did you feel like it wasn’t doing any good?  Did you feel like no matter how hard you begged, pleaded, bargained, kicked or screamed God simply didn’t care?  Have you ever felt like that?  Maybe some of you are even feeling that way right now. Maybe you are saying, “So what if God’s here?  He might be here, but He’s not listening to me.  I have a need, and He’s not doing anything about it.”

In answer to those of you who may be feeling this way, this is what God says.  In Psalm 31:22-24, David wrote these words, “For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.  O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.  Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.”

In other words, if you feel like God isn’t listening…If you feel like He doesn’t care or He’s not going to help you…Just keep pressing on! Just keep praying and trusting Him.  If you have to, take these words in Psalm 31 and repeat them to yourself over and over again. You see, you don’t feel like God doesn’t care because God doesn’t care.  You don’t feel like God isn’t listening because God really isn’t listening.  Notice what David realized about his own experience.  Catch the revelation!  David said, “For I said in my haste!”  In other words, because David was impatient for the Lord’s blessings…Because he couldn’t wait for God to answer his prayers…Because he was frustrated with his circumstances…that was why he thought that God wasn’t listening.  It was because David was impatient.

So if you are feeling like God isn’t there, or the next time you feel like He’s not there, remind yourself of these words.  Remind yourself that it is only because of your own impatience that you feel like God isn’t there.  When you are feeling down and you feel like your situation is hopeless remind yourself that it is only because of your impatience that you are feeling that way.  Remind yourself that God really is working to get you out of the mess you’re in, because He really does preserve the faithful.  He really does reward the proud doer, or the one who works hard to please God.

But you may say, “Why does He work like that?  Why does He always have to take so long to answer prayers or give us the things that we need?”  Some will answer, “To build up patience within you.”  Others will say, “In order to prepare you to be a good steward of the blessing He’s about to give you.”  There are really so many answers to this question, but I want you to know another reason why God sometimes takes a very long time to answer prayers.

  

Point 1: Supernatural vs. Natural Miracles

Have you ever considered how most people view miracles?  Really, if you look at miracles closely, there are two types.  Most people only recognize the first type, and that is the supernatural miracle.  Most people think that a miracle is an instant healing that no doctor could perform or maybe a person commanding something to happen and then having it happen.  Things like: Jesus commanding the storm to be still, turning water to wine, casting out devils….these are all things most people would term as miracles.

Natural miracles are ones that occur usually over a great deal of time, and the reason why most don’t really view these miracles as even being miracles is they can be explained by natural phenomenon.  Examples of these kinds of miracles are: A changed life, a person getting $100 from a relative just when you thought your electricity was about to be cut, a friend showing up just when you needed her to, etc.  People tend to view these miracles as just events in their lives, and many times they hardly even notice them.  Most natural miracles are overlooked.

Why? Because they usually take a long time to happen and they can usually be explained away as coincidence or good fortune.  However, did you know that natural miracles are actually the most powerful miracles that God can perform in your life?  Did you know that these subtle and “un-miraculous” events are actually greater and more profound examples of God’s power than the supernatural miracle that God can perform?

Now what would lead me to say this, and what does this have to do with why God takes a long time to answer prayers?  Well, you see, God has set up rules and regulations to govern everything in the universe.  In order to perform a natural miracle God must obey these rules and regulations to get the job done.  Supernatural miracles, on the other hand, occur when God breaks these rules and regulations, making exceptions to them, in order to accomplish something.

Just in case I’ve lost you, let me put it a different way.  Two merchants are headed from the same town to the same city.  One man takes the road that was created for the general public.  It winds through mountains and crosses rivers at bridges that are well used and sometimes in need of repair.  The other man takes a faster road that was created only for the king’s use.  Only officials can travel this straighter road.  Anyone else caught on the road should be arrested and fined heavily unless they have permission to use the road.  This man has permission to use the King’s Road.  Both men set out at the same time.  Both arrive just in time for the city’s harvest festival.  Yes, the man who had permission to take the King’s Road got there faster, but both made it in time to sell their wares at the festival.

Which was the greater deed?  Was it more amazing that the man who took the King’s Road made it on time or was it more amazing that the man who took the public road got there in time?  Naturally, we would say that the man who had to take the long way through the mountains and across rickety bridges was more amazing.  He had to endure many more things in order to get to his final destination.  He had to abide by the rules and laws of the land in order to get to his destination on time.  He did not get to cut corners.  He received no exceptions to the rules as the other man had.

So it is with God and the rules and regulations He has established for the Earth.  A good ruler follows the rules more often than He makes exceptions.  He does not make rules that He intends to break on a constant basis.  And why wouldn’t He? He set up the rules for a reason.  He set up the rules to govern all things with great care and with fairness for all and so that all might work together to prosper.  So God created doctors and lawyers and policemen and such so that we could all work together to do miracles in each other’s lives.

And, therefore, it is a far greater miracle when God accomplishes the same thing through people and things and natural means than it is when He accomplishes a miracle simply by making an exception to the rule.  In order to accomplish the natural miracle God must arrive at His destination without making exceptions to the many laws He has established.  In other words, to do a natural miracle God must not take the easy way out.

Still not convinced?  Try looking at it like this: What is easier for God to do and what is more powerful…to simply make an exception to the rules that say, “No medicine can heal you,” or to use a sinful, rebellious man…to help him figure out a solution to the problem and then to use this same man to heal you and make you well?  I think you can see the obvious answer.  God often answers our prayers in the long term because in order to answer our prayers using His own rules and regulations it often takes a great deal of time, and to Him it is a far greater testimony and miracle then if He simply stepped out of heaven and ordered your suffering to end.  It’s not always fun for us to endure, but in the end just enduring our own current circumstances for a season gives God more glory, and He will bless you all the more afterwards because you were faithful to Him during your suffering!

Point 2: We are all God’s children and we should act like it.

But sometimes you may say, “I need a blessing right now! How do I get it?” You may feel like your situation calls for God to respond with a supernatural miracle.  For example, if the doctor does say you are sick with something that he can’t cure you might need God to answer a prayer and you may need it right now.  Or maybe you need help with your kids.  They are acting crazy and you can’t seem to get them to listen to you.  If something doesn’t happen soon they may get into some serious trouble.  Or maybe its finances.  You may feel like you need God to intervene because if he doesn’t you don’t know how you’re going to keep the lights on or the heat.

So how do you get God to do things for you?  Basically, how do you make God act on your behalf? Well, first let me restate what I had mentioned in the first part of this message.  God isn’t some vending machine that you can put the right amount of change into to get what you want.  You can’t MAKE God do anything.  He’s a person just like you and me only perfect and sinless.  So there isn’t any amount of faith…there isn’t any amount of prayer…there isn’t any right prayer or ritual that you can perform…basically there’s nothing you can do at all ever to MAKE God do anything.  Period.

Now notice I emphasized the word “make”.  You can’t do things to make God do something but you can do things to influence God to do something.  You can also expect God to do something on your behalf.  After all, a king is established to serve the people.  His role is to make sure his citizens are cared for and protected.  Therefore, if you are a citizen of God’s Kingdom, and He is your King, then you can expect certain things from God.  You should expect that no matter what happens to you that your King is good and He has your best interest in mind.  It may not always seem like it, but God is working for good on your behalf.

But you are more than citizens of God’s Kingdom.  The Bible says in Romans 8:17 that we are all “joint heirs with the throne of Christ.”  We aren’t just citizens.  We are nobility.  We aren’t even just nobility, actually, we are ROYALTY.  That means that we are endowed with even more rights and privileges than a typical citizen of God’s Kingdom.  We are CHILDREN of God.  That makes us PRINCES AND PRINCESSES.

So just like a younger child can’t physically make his parents do something neither can we force God to do something.  However, just as a younger child can influence their parents to get what they want, so we can influence God to get the things we desire.  A child doesn’t force their parents to go to the toy store and get them a video game system, but if a child is really good they might get one for Christmas or just as a reward for being good.

So it’s time to change your perception.  God is our Father and we are all His kids. So if we are all His children then we must act like children when it comes to influencing God to get what we want.  This is why Christ also tried to teach His disciples that unless we become like little children we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.  It may sound a bit manipulative, but it really isn’t.  God views us as we would view our own children.  He looks upon us with love and compassion, and He wants us to treat Him as a child should treat his or her father.

Think of it!  We are all heirs to the omnipotent God!  We are princes and princesses to God’s Kingdom.  That means we should have authority and power as any prince or princess would have.  We are royalty, and just as a servant is supposed to obey royalty so those things which God has placed under our command should obey us.  2 Timothy 1:7 & Acts 1:8 tell us that we should have power and authority to command things and they should be done.  We should have power over our circumstances and even over our environment.  

So why don’t we?  If we are royalty and we should be able to command and it should be done why don’t we have the ability to tell it to stop raining and have it stop raining?  Why don’t we have the ability to command a person to be healed and have them be healed?  Why don’t we have the ability to keep our families together or even ourselves under control?

The answer is that we haven’t proven ourselves worthy of such responsibility.  Plain and simple.  A wise father does not give his son the keys to his car if his son has not proven he is going to be responsible with his father’s car.  Only when the son proves that he is going to drive responsibly would the wise father give him the right to drive it.

In the same way, God isn’t going to give a person the ability to supernaturally heal others if the person doesn’t prove to God that he/she is going to use the power as God would want them to use it.  I mean, imagine it if God didn’t work this way!  He gives someone the ability to command rain and storms to stop, but that person doesn’t ever want it to rain.  Therefore, they command the rain to never come to the land.  Within a short period of time, the land is dead all because the selfish person commanded it to not rain. 

Likewise, imagine if an irresponsible person was given the power to heal supernaturally.  They don’t consult with God on who He wants them to heal, so they just go about healing anyone they feel like.  They feel so good because they are healing everyone they come across.  Aren’t they such wonderful people?  Oh!  That person is in the hospital and is dying after a near-fatal car accident.  So the irresponsible person goes and heals them not realizing that the reason they are in the hospital is because they were drinking and driving.  Thankfully, they didn’t hurt anyone else.  Now, after being healed supernaturally and not having to go through the pain and suffering of recovering naturally, the drunk driver does the same thing again.  This time, however, they kill an entire family in the process.  Now the irresponsible, miraculous healer is responsible for healing a drunk driver who has now killed an entire family.  They wouldn’t have done this if they hadn’t been healed, and the irresponsible, miraculous healer wouldn’t have healed them if they had been listening to God’s direction when going about healing.

So you see, we never know what could happen in the future.  Only God knows what will happen.  We might be thinking we’re doing a good thing, and we might not be able to understand why God is NOT healing someone or saving someone from some tragedy.  This is why God only rewards supernatural gifts to those who have proven themselves responsible enough to handle them.

How do you become responsible enough?