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When is a Miracle, Miraculous?
Bible study on miracles.

I know that this article is going to upset some people, but I would like to draw the distinction between a miracle and God's providence. The word "miracle" is often incorrectly used for an event that is merely luck, good fortune, or one which God accomplishes through His providence.

Once there was a basketball player who made an incredible half-court shot and someone exclaimed: It's a miracle! The fact is that the shot was no more a miracle than any other shot that day. Men have distorted the meaning of the word "miracle" to simply denote an incredible event. Because of this, some folks have confused the Bible meaning of miracle with the humanistic watered-down version of the word.

Vine's defines "miracle" as: "power, inherent ability, is used of works of a supernatural origin and character such as could not be produced by natural agents and means." So, a miracle is something that is supernatural - it is something that would be impossible to accomplish through the laws and agents of nature.

When is a miracle really a miracle? Something is a miracle when God has intervened on a supernatural level - not merely a providential (natural) level. This is not to discount God's work in our lives nor the power of prayer, but we should be accurate in our speech and teaching.

For example, a person may exhibit great skill, possibly with a little luck, or a person may rig an illusion to fool the great unwashed, but these are not miracles. We may pray to God for the sick and they may become well in time by the providential will of God, but this is not a miracle. An elderly person may rise from a wheel chair to be paraded around a stage for a moment in time and then return to the chair, but this is not a miracle. A person may escape an accident usually resulting in death, but this is not a miracle. A surgeon may perform a brain transplant, but this is not a miracle. God may be providentially working in these events, but they are not supernatural - they are not miracles.

What are some Bible examples of miracles? Jesus turned water to wine (Jn. 2:1-12). Feeding five thousand men with five loaves and two fish having twelve baskets of left-overs (Mk. 6:30-44). Jesus walked on the sea (Mk. 6:45-52). Complete and immediate healing of the lame, infirmed, and blind. Jesus and the Apostles raised people from the dead who had been dead long enough that their body had time to begin decaying. And, first century miracles were such that there was no possible doubt that the event was supernatural - much different from "so called" miracles today.

Frankly, I have never seen a miracle. Yes, I have seen what people call miracles which are either tricks, happenstance, or God's providence. And I have read about miracles in the Bible, but I have never seen one. Should I think this as odd? No, because Paul says that miracles would cease (I Cor. 13). Whether or not we agree that there are miracles today, let's at least call a thing what it is - if it is not a miracle, let's not call it a miracle.