What is a MIRACLE

[TW]

Most all of us on this board believe in miracles. I believe that they happen all the time. Big miracles, small miracles, but miracles none the less. Most I believe in small miracles, God doing things for us that we cannot do for ourselves.

Now to the question of this thread: What is a miracle?

How do you define/determine what a miracle is? What criteria do you use to designate an event as a miracle? How do you separate something that is a possibility or probability from being a miracle? Where do you draw the line?

You will notice that I have bolded the word "you" because I want your personal opinion.

Just a question...


TW

[Poimen]

I think that, properly speaking, a miracle is a supernatural work of God. Miracles however are typically distinguished from gifts of healing (which are indeed miraculous in their own right).

I agree that miracles can be big or small. However, I can only quantify a true miracle as a supernatural work of God.

You know...

1. turning water into wine
2. putting money in a fishes mouth
3. miraculously being released from prison

A recent miracle I was fortunate to encounter and learn about among my own congregants follows...

A little old saintly lady at our church (Vivian Meeks) has an old car that leaked oil. Her son pulled the car up on ramps to get a good look at the leak and hopefully fix it. It was definitely leaking oil. She prayed for God to help her, cause she didn't have the money to have it fixed. Her son (a backslider) crawls under the car, and can't find the leak. The car has not leaked any oil sense!

[one love]

I think God blesses us with miracles all the time, sometimes we don't see it but his hand was involved.

[Gerald Creasy]

Dosent the definition of a miracle hinge greatly on ones view of the soverignty of God?

If as the Bible says "the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm" are storms then "supernatural"?

Does God have his way in ALL whirlwinds and storms, or just SOME whirlwinds and storms?

Is it a miracle when a car breaks down? (An incident in Ravi Zacharias' life would definitely qualify)

Is it a miracle to cut ones thumb off? (an incident in my ex brother in laws life when such an incident provided a chance to witness to borderline suicidal man would indicate possibly)

If God is in control of all things then all things are supernatural.

If God is in control of only some things then only SOME things are supernatural.

[Full Quiver]

I find myself agreeing with Poimen.

Healings are not what the Bible calls miracles. They are classified differently.
Water into wine, walking on water, etc. are miracles.

Miracles must glorify God, serve a purpose for humanity, and be obvious to the unbeliever. There was no question that Jesus turned water into wine or walked on water.

[Penny]

When I think about mircle's I think of my mom last day here on this earth.

She did not wake up that Saturday Morning. She went into a deep coma. The Hospic Nurse was called, and she came over, she told us this was the end. That mom could not wake up, and she would slowy drift away.

THat was not an ok thing with me or my sisters. We refused to let that be the end of it. My mom life was all about the Lord.

My dad said let's pray-- We had prayer.

Then!! My mom started to wake up, she woke up fully, and wanted some pie, which she got.

My Aunt and Uncle are both nurses. They both said they have never ever seen anything like this before.

We called the Hospic Nurse, she told us that was impossble.

The Lord gave me and my sisters, dad one more day with my mom. Later that night she drifted back into the coma, and went home to be the Lord.

To me that is a mircle.

[JohnDB]

Miracles or signs as described in the Old Testament of the Bible were usually naturally occurring phenomenon in which the timing of them was phenominal.

There is a land bridge under the Reed Sea which does have all kinds of chariots from the period of Egypt in which the Exodus would have occurred.

There was a landslide that stopped the waters of the Jordan river just as the Israelites were ready to cross into the Promised land.

Many of the things that happened in the Bible do have naturally occurring explanations...however their timing in association of what the Hebrews or Prophets were doing is of divine timing.

The New Testament?
That is another story in and of itself. The story of Lazarus is especially profound...so was the ressurection...so was the speaking in languages of all of those countries. (Pentacost)

Those were wonders...

A prophet could be tested and at times a prophet would offer a sign to someone if their faith was needing a "boost". They could ask for anything as a sign..and sometimes did such as in the story of the shadows going backwards. (caused by a rare atmospheric condition)

Jesus offered this a couple of times...only once was he taken up on actually being told what sign to give...and then they still didn't believe.

[RamboPreacher]

The white snow in winter, it's beauty, serene peacefulness and comfort.

The windy rains of spring, the life that begins a new and is drawn from the molecular structure and universal solvent that shouldn't even exist as a liquid.

The warm breeze in the summer with the sun shining brightly as it's power is directed to God's creation and the energies that are consumed and applied.

The color and awe of the fall as life prepares for the winter, within the folding shades and colors of the sunsets.

The time that God has given me to enjoy the fullness of the seasons available to me.

The air that I can breathe, the exact percentages of the gases that are necessary for life and for living.

The preciousness of friendship. friends that don't necessarily agree with each other in everything, and yet are not hiding that either.

A wife that is my most precious friend and partner.

A son that is a chip of the old block, and continues to grow and be unique in his relationships.

A daughter that is perhaps more a chip from this old block than her brother, and a friend that can have conversations that can be mature and honestly open.

a job that God allows me to continue in, in order to support the ministry that He has placed me.

A home that is a real home and not just a roof over my head as a house.

a relationship with God. A righteous God and a God of Justice that still allows and desires a relationship with me.

a church that accepts me for who I am, forgives who I was and nurtures me to who I can be.

big toes, pinky fingers, eyelashes, chocolate, vanilla ice cream, bacon and other tasty animals, a vehicle that continues to work well.

Being healed of RA. God's gifting me with various talents, skills and abilities.

my life.

[Full Quiver]

So John, that land bridge you speak of under the Red Sea..... is it dry land? how about the same for the Jordan?

[JohnDB]

So John, that land bridge you speak of under the Red Sea..... is it dry land? how about the same for the Jordan?

Nope...the land bridge is under water...deep water. But the location of this land bridge is right at the mouth of the mountains. The column of fire or Pillar of fire would be able to contain Pharaoh's army quite easily.

The landslide also has been eroded away as well...the Jordan river flows today just as it has for centuries.

[TW]

You all, with the possible exceptions of Poimen and FQ, seem to be missing the point. I did not ask for a list of miracles, nor stories of miracles, although I knew that there would be some. I asked how do "you" determine in your own mind when something is a miracle.

How do you define/determine what a miracle is? What criteria do you use to designate an event as a miracle? How do you separate something that is a possibility or probability from being a miracle? Where do you draw the line?

TW

[RamboPreacher]

You all, with the possible exceptions of Poimen and FQ, seem to be missing the point. I did not ask for a list of miracles, nor stories of miracles, although I knew that there would be some. I asked how do "you" determine in your own mind when something is a miracle.

How do you define/determine what a miracle is? What criteria do you use to designate an event as a miracle? How do you separate something that is a possibility or probability from being a miracle? Where do you draw the line?

TW

When it's from God, or as I attribute it to being from God.

[bibleguy]

Dosent the definition of a miracle hinge greatly on ones view of the soverignty of God?

If as the Bible says "the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm" are storms then "supernatural"?

Does God have his way in ALL whirlwinds and storms, or just SOME whirlwinds and storms?

Is it a miracle when a car breaks down? (An incident in Ravi Zacharias' life would definitely qualify)

Is it a miracle to cut ones thumb off? (an incident in my ex brother in laws life when such an incident provided a chance to witness to borderline suicidal man would indicate possibly)

If God is in control of all things then all things are supernatural.

If God is in control of only some things then only SOME things are supernatural.

A miracle is divine INTERVENTION.

When God created the world, He set things in motion and those things would continue without His direct intervention. In that way, the animals go through their cycles, have their young, live, die, eat, sleep, etc. In that way, the flora yields its flowers, seeds germinate, sprouts grow. In that way, when a male and female humane unite their bodies, at the right time, a child is conceived and a baby is born. In that way, the wind carries seeds, young spiders, and other things from one location to the other. Lightning starts fires that create opportunities for new growth. The earth's moon regularly passes directly between the Sun, causing a "total solar eclipse" (the only planetary satellite in our solar system that does so). And time, space, and human failings would fail me to list the infinite other examples.

All of these things are miraculous in that God's actions have set them in motion. However, while some would disagree, I would argue that it is not a MIRACLE when a man has an affair with his secretary and she gets pregnant. All births are wonderful, but not all are miracles. Miraculous births are seen when one parent is sterile, or, as in the case of Jesus, a virgin. Miraculous births are when a child is diagnosed in the womb to have a dreadful disease, but is born whole. WHile some may search for miracles in every situation, the ordinary does not equal miraculous.

The natural processes were set up, and the system requires very little direct intervention. The animals and man reproduce; microorganisms dispose of animal feces, salt water disposes of that which would polloute the seas. All according to the divine system established in the Creation.

BUT SOMETIMES, God does something that is outside of the natural course of events. Sometimes a post-menopausal, elderly woman bares a child. Sometimes a finite amount of oil goes far beyond what it is naturally able to do. Sometimes, a young boy's small lunch feeds the multitudes.

While the fact that God made all things, and the lad's lunch of fish and bread may be miraculous in that it has its 1000s-of-years-old source in God's providence, yet it is not truly miraculous when that lad eats his portion and is filled. BUT THE MIRACLE OF DIVINE INTERVENTION, is seen when that portion that would merely fill the belly of the lad, is multiplied to feed thousands.

Oh, I believe in miracles. I have seen the miracle in which an automobile accident provided funds for a necessary ministerial activity. I've seen healings. I myself have been healed from chronic asthma. Yet, when I am cut, and the blood coagulates, and then the skin grows back together, is it a miracle? Only in the sense that our blessed heavenly Father foresaw the need, and engineered our bodies to cope with the hazards we would face. But at this particular moment, God hasn't the need to intervene, the body is carrying out the process for which it was created. It is without a doubt wonderful, but I would argue that it is no miracle.

But when Jesus made an arm where there was none, when the axe-head floated upon the waters, when Shedrach, Meshech and Abednago came out of the furnace without even the smell of smoke, these all go beyond the natural process, and are shown to be true miracles.

Gerald said that if God is in control of all things, then all things are supernatural. But if in control of some things, then only some things are.

God IS in control of all things, but many of those things are not supernatural, because He controls them through natural laws; therefore they are natural. The supernatural is defined by those cases where He causes the natural laws to be suspended. He is always in control, but sometimes He INTERVENES.

[Dr. Ron]

A miracle is when something is accomplished that could only happen by God being in it. If you have the ability to accomplish it, it can't be a miracle.

It's God sized stuff happening to ordinary people.

[RamboPreacher]

A miracle is when something is accomplished that could only happen by God being in it. If you have the ability to accomplish it, it can't be a miracle.

It's God sized stuff happening to ordinary people.

I agree, but not completely. God gave me a gift of being able to work on computers. I believe this skill/ability is a miracle. I can do it, but I believe that it comes from God; and therefor a miracle.