“In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.”
These words, spoken by David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel and leader in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, should be the mantra of every Christ-follower. We have a wonder-working, miracle-performing God who desires to provide for His children through miraculous means. Sadly, many Christians experience little of God’s power and provision. We lack something vital for our Christian life:
“And He (Jesus) did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith” (Matthew 13:58).
The people of Jesus’ hometown heard His divine wisdom. They witnessed the miraculous power that flowed from His lips and hands. Scripture says they were amazed. Yet though they had seen, they did not believe. When we are lacking in faith, we don’t experience God’s miraculous provision. Instead, we strive to fulfill our needs by self-directed efforts and strength.
Consider Abraham and Sarah. God promised them a son from whom He would form a great nation. After a time of great rejoicing came a time of waiting. Waiting opened the door to unbelief. When unbelief enters, self-effort begins. Sarah encouraged Abraham to father a child through her handmaiden Hagar. The negative consequences of this one act were profound, continuing to this day.
As Christ-followers, we are prone to act from a similar mindset, seeking to obey and follow God with flesh-driven wisdom and strength. When we fail to wait and receive God’s miraculous provision, like Hagar, we receive only ordinary provisions: “His son born by the slave woman (Hagar) was born in the ordinary way”(Galatians 4:23a). We are told to:
“Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son” (Galatians 4:30).
Your inheritance in Christ is a life filled with the miraculous outworking of God’s power. The next time you’re tempted to act in your own wisdom and strength, consider stepping back, and in faith, look to see what miracle God will do.