The Message and The Miracle
Have you ever gone through a hard time in your life and questioned is God even there? Or does he even care?
Sometimes I’ve caught myself questioning God and his motives when I’m going through hard times. I question God ‘why is this happening to me? Don’t you even care?’ Then he so tenderly reminds me, yes he does care more than I’ll ever know.
In my struggle I realize I’m not the one waiting on God, he’s the one waiting on me. If I just opened my eyes to see what God is trying to show me, His creations are all around me. He has made the heavens, the earth and everything in it. He has already sent Jesus to die for us.
Do I really need him to show me another sign of what he is capable of doing?
My unbelief and doubt aren’t so far off from the Pharisees and the crowd Jesus fed.
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, capture the life of Jesus, his ministry, his death, and resurrection. Each gospel captures Jesus’ messages and miracles he performed. Jesus didn’t perform a miracle without there being a deeper message at hand. When a person reads the gospels one will see the pattern of a message then a miracle, a message then a miracle. When we look deeper, we can see this message and miracle pattern in our lives as well.
In the gospel of John 6, Jesus had just performed the miracle of feeding 5,000 people from only 5 loaves of bread and two fish. The crowd was amazed at this miraculous sign that Jesus did. After performing this miracle, Jesus withdrew from the crowd knowing the crowd intended to make him their king. The crowd then went looking for Jesus in Capernaum.
When the crowd finds Jesus, he then says, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him and the Father has placed his seal of approval.” (John 6:26-27)
Jesus knew their hearts already. They weren’t looking for a Messiah, the one who could give them eternal life, they were looking for another miracle.
John 6:30 says, “So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?”
Can you even imagine asking Jesus, ‘what else can you do before we believe you?’ It didn’t matter the crowd had just witnessed Jesus miraculously feed a crowd of 5,000 people with just some loaves of bread and fish, the people wanted more.
The crowd didn’t need more proof of Jesus’ abilities, they needed more faith.Click To TweetThe same scenario happened with the Pharisees after Jesus fed the four thousand people. Afterward the Pharisees questioned Jesus. They wanted to test him and asked him for a sign from heaven.
Jesus sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it” (Mark 8:12).
How many times have we been guilty of this as well?
There are signs all around us that God is with us and cares about our struggles, yet we search for God to prove his divine authority by performing miraculous signs.
In both scenarios, Jesus did not perform another miracle when they demanded it because they lacked faith. Their request for a miracle came from unbelief (Mark 8:11 footnote). God doesn’t need to prove his abilities he is able. There is evidence all around us of his divine abilities.
Do we really need more proof or more faith?Click To Tweet What greater sign do we need from God that he can handle our trials and struggles that he hasn’t already done for us?Click To TweetDo we seek God like the Pharisees and crowd does, only searching for the next miracle? Are we missing the point as well?
Our relationship with God goes deeper than him supplying for all of our needs and making sure everything is good in our lives all the time. Our relationship with God is more than just a good feeling that is temporary. Our relationship with God is eternal and everlasting.
Behind every miracle lies a deeper message.Click To Tweet
What do you seek God for? To perform another miracle? Or to be your Messiah who has come to give you life?
Searching for a miracle from God without faith is like a person telling a horse to move without ears. Faith without action is dead. Seeking a miracle without receiving God’s deeper message is like sending Jesus to die for us without the resurrection. The death and resurrection of Jesus is the greatest message and miracle ever.
Jesus’ death would be pointless if there wasn’t a resurrection. Jesus was preparing the hearts of people to have faith in him was going to require believing in the unseen of what God could do.
We only need faith the size of a mustard seed for God to move the mountains in our life.Click To TweetMatthew 17:20, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Do you believe our faith in God leads to life’s biggest miracles?
Do you see the pattern of a message then a miracle in your life?
It’s all about meeting Jesus right where we are. In Him, we have life to the full that is complete and everlasting (John 10:10). Have a blessed week!
Did you enjoy this blogpost? Please share with others! Want more encouraging messages sent right to your inbox? Subscribe to my blog and receive a weekly Monday Message or like my Author Facebook page to catch the latest posts.
I would love to hear from you! Leave your comments below!
Thanks very interesting blog!
This article presents clear idea in favor of the new people of blogging, that in fact how to do blogging and site-building.
What’s up i am kavin, its my first time to commenting anyplace, when i read this article i thought i could also create comment due to this brilliant article.
Have you ever thought about creating an ebook or guest authoring on other sites? I have a blog centered on the same subjects you discuss and would love to have you share some stories/information. I know my viewers would enjoy your work. If you’re even remotely interested, feel free to send me an e mail.
http://educationpoints.eu
Definitely imagine that which you said. Your favourite justification appeared to be on the internet the easiest thing to take into account of. I say to you, I definitely get annoyed while people think about issues that they just don’t recognize about. You managed to hit the nail upon the highest and also defined out the whole thing without having side effect , other people could take a signal. Will probably be back to ge
http://helpfultip.eu
Hey! Someone in my Myspace group shared this website with us so I came to give it a look. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Exceptional blog and excellent style and design.
http://edutips.eu
Thank you for visiting and sharing! Come back again!