Miracles happen. Really?

Yesterday we saw how Elisha performed the miracle of turning one tiny jar of olive oil into jars and jars of oil….at the end of that story, he is described as ‘the man of God’. This display of God’s power set Elisha apart as a man of God, just as Jesus’ miracles set him apart as the son of God.

There are a few more miracles listed in 2 Kings 4. Through Elisha, God promises the childless Shunammite woman a son and then when the child later tragically dies, he restores the boy to life. Then the stew that Elisha asks his servant to make for the prophets contains a poisonous wild vine, so Elisha instructs them to put some flour into the stew and it miraculously becomes edible. And finally a man brings twenty loaves of bread and Elisha instructs him to feed the whole company of people, with the promise from God that there will be plenty and some left over.

These are all the kind of miracles that Jesus also performed – bringing healing and life and hope and food. Elisha is also recognised as a holy man of God because of these miracles.

Which begs the question – what is the role of miracles in our lives today? How and where is God working powerfully through His people? Where are these men and women of God today?

And just to be clear –

A miracle is an event not explicable by natural or scientific laws. Such an event may be attributed to a supernatural being (God or gods), a miracle worker, a saint or a religious leader.  Wikipedia

I have no answers. I have seen nothing as clear or remarkable as any of the miracles that Elisha performs in this chapter. I do believe God works in everyday lives and has done things in my life that I would not have believed possible. I believe life itself is a miracle; that each new day is a miracle; that our wonderful world is an ongoing miracle in action. But as for specifics? I don’t know.

The Shunammite woman in this passage is really interesting. Maybe we can learn something from her.

• she had plenty and was willing to share. She wanted to use what she had to help others. She had no agenda. She practised hospitality and generosity.

One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat.  2 Kings 4:8

• she recognised Elisha’s need and was willing to do what she could in her own understated way to provide for him.

“I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. 10 Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”  2 Kings 4:9

• when this had gone on for some time, Elisha asked her how he could repay her – and she asked for nothing in return. It was Elisha’s servant who told him that she was childless.
• when Elisha told her that she would have a child, her reaction – “Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!” – seemed to be one of disbelief. Don’t be cruel. Don’t get my hopes up. I have long since given up hoping for this. I have come to terms with it.
• the joy in that household when a son was born was not mentioned but can be imagined, as would be the distress and anguish when the boy fell ill and died. The woman’s immediate response was to take the boy to Elisha’s room – in that moment, she knew he was her only hope. Now she trusted him for a miracle. She’d watched him and seen him at work for many years. She’d seen the miracle at work in her own life. Now she needed a miracle and she knew exactly where to turn.
• she was determined. She would stop at nothing. She travelled by donkey to find ‘the man of God’, Elisha, herself. She would not tell the servant what was wrong. She fell at Elisha’s feet in her bitter distress – didn’t I tell you not to raise my hopes? Elisha knew immediately and sent his servant ahead to the boy. Elisha went himself and lay on top of the boy and his life was restored.
• Everything in this story had led up to this moment. This was the miracle that the woman would need all along. She had been faithful and generous and served Elisha over many years…..so that when this moment came, this miracle would be revealed…….

Basically, I take two things from this.

Firstly, we can’t just sit around and wait for miracles to happen. We need to be generous and hospitable and have a serving heart. We need to be using all that God has given us for his glory every single day. God is in the everyday small stuff as much as the spectacular big stuff.

And then, maybe miracles happen less than they might, because we don’t expect them. We don’t yearn for them or believe in them. We are so scared of being disappointed or hurt or having our hopes crushed that we don’t allow ourselves to dream big.

Don’t stop believin’.

Well, don’t stop acting for good and for God.

Don’t stop looking for the miraculous in the everyday.

Don’t stop trusting in the God of miracles.

And don’t stop yearning for God’s kingdom to break through in the most hopeless and desperate of situations.