Miracle

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. Ephesians 1:3,4

Like, apparently, many millions of Americans Sunday evening, I watched in fascination/horror as Nick Wallenda walked along a two-inch thick cable across the Grand Canyon. Only, just to be clear, it wasn’t the Grand Canyon at all, but the Little Colorado River Gorge on the western edge of the Navajo Nation; it is an area of the world that I know well.  Picky, aren’t I?

Anyway it was fascinating to see the man step and do what generations of his family (The Flying Wallendas) have been doing for over a century now.  I mentioned in a post about six months ago that I am convinced there is a genetic defect in that family.  If you watched, this particular flying Wallenda continually praised Jesus and prayed/begged for safety as he made his way from one side of the gorge to the other.  And if you are like me, I breathed a huge sigh of relief when he danced his way the last few feet and jumped down to the terra firma a few feet below at the end.  It had to have been a terrifying walk; the wind at times was howling and the cable at times started a rhythmic pulsing that could have thrown Mr. Wallenda to his certain death deep down in the gorge.

It was quite the feat; one commentator in fact called it a miracle.  Not to spoil the party, but I don’t feel there was anything miraculous about it, as a matter of fact, I feel it could have just have easily been a case of putting the Lord to the test –something we are cautioned about in Deuteronomy 6:16; a caution revisited by Jesus in passages like Matthew 4:7.

If Wallenda’s contagious faith that was displayed causes some people to consider Christ and his ultimate benefits, then that may lie closer to the real miracle of the event than did the actual stroll across the wire.

This Saturday evening, there is going to be a celebration in a neighboring community because a granite Ten Commandments monument is going to be placed and dedicated in front of a fraternal organization’s building.  This was spawned as push-back by an effort (unsuccessful, so far, thankfully) by the Freedom from Religion Foundation to remove a similar long-standing monument at a local school in the same community. 

I have been told that this placement of the new monument is a miracle in and of itself. Again, not to spoil the party, but I don’t feel there is anything especially miraculous about this event, as good as I may think it is.  However, if this effort causes some people to consider Christ and his ultimate benefits, then that may lie closer to a real miracle than the creation and setting of a stone monument itself.

I have other miracles to consider though.  I have been praying for a miracle or two within my family, as some of you know.  And these would be far greater miracles than a tight-rope walk or a monument setting.  But I will accept whatever God’s will is in these situations.

The Scripture I shared with you above is about a true miracle.  That somehow Christ chose me or you to be in him before the foundation of the world is that actual miracle.  Because I know myself; I do not deserve such choosing, I have done nothing to earn such a choosing, and I struggle to live worthily of such a choosing.

With a great gratitude I live into his choosing; having Jesus as my Savior is a miracle above all miracles.

Are you looking for a miracle in your life?  Maybe, if you stop and think about it, you already have it. Because if you are in Christ, he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

That is the real miracle….