Miracles, Part II--God Never Forgets

When Zechariah and Elizabeth got married, they had the same hopes and dreams every young couple has. A good income, a nice home, and of course, a family. Particularly in the land of Israel, 2000 years ago, children were seen as a blessing from God; so much so, in fact, that if a couple did not have any children, it was perceived as an indication of God’s punishment for some sin in their lives.
We can only imagine the disappointment and heartache this young couple felt when it became apparent that they could not have any children. Add to this the fact that Zechariah was a priest, a “man of God.” O how the wagging tongues must have kept themselves busy, speculating about what the issue could be. Zechariah must have done this, or Elizabeth probably did that, and, “Well, you know, I heard…”
How many hours this couple must have spent over the years, praying, “God, please give us a child. Lord, vindicate us. Take away the shame and the scorn. Show these people that we are innocent of everything they think we may have done. God, give us a child.”
When Luke introduces us to Zechariah and Elizabeth, they are no longer a young couple, trying to have a child. They are senior citizens. By now, they should be grandparents. Any thought, hope, or prayer of ever having a family has been long since forgotten. Elizabeth went through menopause at least ten, maybe twenty or thirty years ago.
When Zechariah went into the temple to burn incense (symbolic of prayer), he was surprised—no, shocked—by the appearance of an angel. And at first, he must have been a bit mystified by what the angel had to say. “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard…” (Luke 1:13).
“Prayer? What prayer? I’ve said many prayers throughout my lifetime. Which prayer are you talking about?”
As Zechariah asked that question within his own head, the angel continued, “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son.”
Zechariah must have mused, “Oh, that prayer,” and then, “Wait a minute! THAT prayer? You’ve got to be joking.”
Because it had been so long, and because having children was now impossible for he and Elizabeth, Zechariah had forgotten about that which he had prayed so earnestly and for so long. But as Pastor John taught us on December 11th, God never forgets.
The lesson is obvious, as we continue our series on miracles. Don’t ever give up. Don’t ever stop. Keep on praying. Keep on believing God for that miracle you need. Remember those prayers you prayed so long ago and have since given up on. Remember them, and start praying again. Because even when we forget about them, God never forgets.
Now, I believe there is an even greater truth underlying this principle. It is the truth that God is faithful. He is faithful to Himself, faithful to His Word, and faithful to His people.
To illustrate this, let’s briefly look at a situation that took place several hundred years before the time of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Israel had been divided into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. The king of Israel had joined forces with the king of Syria, and the two of them were threatening to attack and destroy Judah. To protect his people, king Ahaz of Judah was seeking to form an alliance with the Assyrians.
But God sent the prophet, Isaiah, to tell king Ahaz, “Do not turn to the Assyrians. Do not trust them to help you. Trust in God?” Why? Because “the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).
Wait a minute. This is a prophecy about the birth of Jesus. What’s that got to do with the situation? Everything. For several centuries earlier, God had promised king David that one of his descendants would reign as the king of Israel forever (see II Sam. 7:4-17). And even many centuries before that, God had told Abraham, “In you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3).
If Judah and/or Israel were to ever be destroyed, these promises could never be fulfilled. But through Isaiah, God was telling Ahaz, “I won’t let that happen. I won’t let My people be destroyed. I will fulfill My promises to Abraham and to David.”
In giving the prophecy about the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, God was proving Himself to be faithful to Abraham, to David, and to the nation. And, lest we think He is only concerned about such great people as Abraham as David, the announcement that Elizabeth would have a son (who later became John the Baptist) showed that God is faithful to such ordinary and “insignificant” people as a little-known priest and his wife. And if God was faithful to them, then He most certainly is and will be faithful to you, as well.


QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND APPLICATION

1. What former hopes and dreams have you given up on? Is there something you used to pray for, but have given up on because God didn’t answer that prayer when you hoped He would?

2. How does the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth encourage you in this area?


3. Think about your entire life up to this point, especially some of the hard times you may have experienced. How has God proven Himself to be faithful to you? Are you able to see evidence of God’s faithfulness in your life?


4. What miracle are you needing now? What difficult situation are you facing? How much are you praying about it? Are you trusting God to answer your prayer, or do you doubt that He will intervene? Why? What will you do to increase your faith in God’s faithfulness to you?

Miracles--Part 1

As we start our series on miracles, it is good to have a working definition of what a miracle is. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a miracle as “1: An extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs,” and “2: An extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment.”
These definitions are good, but rather wordy. So allow me to simplify things by saying that a miracle occurs any time God does what only God can do. And when you think about it, everything God does is something only God can do. Therefore, everything God does is, technically, a miracle.
A miracle can include anything from healing leprosy, or even cerebral palsy, to making trees and flowers grow, to saving people from their sins. These are all things that God does and only God can do.
On Sunday, PJ told us that we’re meant to experience the supernatural on a daily basis, and I agree. However, we must be careful about how we define that which is supernatural or what we expect it to look like. For example, even though I’m meant to experience the supernatural in my life, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I should go through life expecting God to heal my cerebral palsy, and then being disappointed if He doesn’t.
One thing we must qualify any discussion about miracles with is the Sovereignty of God. God does what He wants to do, when He wants to do it, and for His purposes; not ours. There may be times when we ask God to perform a certain miracle in our lives, and He says no.
This may cause us to ask, when does God perform a miracle (such as physical healing) and when doesn’t He? Many factors may come into play. However, we must remember that God always does that which brings Him the greatest glory. Therefore, if God is going to receive more glory through my life as the result of Him not healing my handicap, then He won’t do it. If healing me will bring Him the greater glory, then He will. However, from our vantage point, not knowing the future, we cannot know what will result in the maximum glory given to God. Therefore, we must trust that God does know these things and will act accordingly.
Another general principle we learned was that miracles start with us doing something about a situation. As we saw in II Kings 5, Naaman had to go see the prophet, Elisha, and then he had to bathe in the Jordan River seven times. In Matthew 9, we find that the paralytic man had to actually get up and walk. For it has been said that the healing did not come until he actually tried to get up and walk. The healing came as he did what Jesus told him to.
Ironically, many evangelicals say that there isn’t anything we have to do in order to receive salvation from God. They are correct insofar as there are no good works on our part which are required for salvation. However, there is in fact something we must do in order to receive salvation. We must believe that Jesus died for our sins and was raised back to life. We must trust that He will forgive our sins when we ask Him to. And of course, we must take that step of trusting Him to forgive us by asking Him to save us. Then and only then will we receive the miracle of salvation.
In any given situation, what must be done in order to receive a miracle from God can vary. As I just stated, the only thing we have to do to receive salvation is ask for it. the woman with the issue of blood had to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. Naaman had to bathe seven times in the muddy Jordan River. But one element is common in all these situations—faith. If we’re ever going to be able to expect to receive a miracle from God, we must believe at least that He is capable of doing what we ask.
Matthew 21 tells us of an occasion in which Jesus cursed a fig tree, which then immediately withered and died. When the disciples marveled at it, Jesus told them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith” (Matt. 21:21-22).
The antithesis of this is just as true. If we do not have faith—if we do not believe that God can do what we are asking Him to do—then we will not see Him work in our lives.


QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND APPLICATION

1. What miracle do I need to have God perform in my life?


2. Do I believe that God can perform this miracle, or do I have a defeatist mentality that says, “Yes, God probably could do this, but He probably won’t”?


3. What action(s) do I need to take in order to facilitate receiving a miracle from God?


4. Read Ephesians 3:20-21. In your e-group discuss how this verse relates to our topic of miracles.