Miracles

                We see and hear of miracles every single day, but we may not recognize them as miracles.  We may not see the parting of the Red Sea, the feeding of 5,000 people with just a few loaves of bread and a few fishes, or be swallowed by a whale and spit out on dry ground.  We usually see small miracles, but large miracles really do happen.

                “God blesses with major miracles only according to need, and then to fit the time.  But the quieter, subtler actions of the Holy Ghost that affect only one person, or, a few, are common in every dispensation.  Saints of all ages have been blessed with special experiences with the Spirit – and those are indeed miracles – such as healings, prophecies, answered prayers, spiritual insights, changes in lives, dreams.  As Moroni said over fifteen hundred years ago, `I will show unto you a God of miracles ....  And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not many miracles?  And there were many mighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles.

                “And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being?  And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles’ (Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Mormon 9:11, 18-19).

                “Most miracles today occur privately, and are kept privately within the heart, or within the family, or are shared only with a few close friends who will understand.  But sometimes, appropriately, they are shared as expressions of gratitude and faith in fast and testimony meeting.”  (See Jay Parry, “Miracles Today,” Liahona, July 1978.)   

                The Bible Dictionary tells us that miracles “are an important element in the work of Jesus Christ….  Christianity is founded on the greatest miracle of all miracles, the resurrection of our Lord.  If that be admitted, other miracles cease to be improbable.  Miracles should not be regarded as deviations from the ordinary course of nature so much as manifestations of divine or spiritual power.  Some lower law was in each case superseded by the action of a higher….”

                The ancient American prophet Mormon asked an important question:  “Has the day of miracles ceased?” (Moroni 7:35)….  Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased, wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain” (Moroni 7:38).

                In address to students at Brigham Young University in 2001, Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke about miracles.  “A miracle has been defined as `a beneficial event brought about through divine power that mortals do not understand and of themselves cannot duplicate’ (in Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 5 vols. [1992], 2:908).  The idea that events are brought about through divine power is rejected by most irreligious people and even by some who are religious.  All of us have known people who have what Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles once called `the anti-miracle mind-set.’  (See “Not My Will, But Thine” [1988], 25.)  This rejection of miracles in the last days was prophesied.  The prophet Nephi foretold that the Gentiles would `put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain’ 
(2 Nephi 26:20).  He also prophesied that churches would be built up in which persons would teach with their learning, deny the power of God, and tell the people that if someone should `say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles’ (2 Nephi 28:6).  (See “Miracles,” Ensign, June 2001.) 

                Several thousand years ago a miracle occurred when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt and through the Red Sea on dry ground.  People, who believe in miracles and believe in God’s power to perform miracles, believe in the Exodus miracles, for this was one of many miracles occurring at that time.  Scientists, archeologists, etc. are finding hard evidence of the exodus from Egypt.  I found this video to be very interesting and encourage you to watch it.  

                The great Christian author C.S. Lewis wrote about miracles in his book titled Miracles.   “Miracles do not, in fact, break the laws of nature.”  In another spot he wrote, “In Science we have been reading only the notes to a poem; in Christianity we find the poem itself.”  Yet another quote comes from his book:  “Nothing can seem extraordinary until you have discovered what is ordinary.  Belief in miracles, far from depending on an ignorance of the laws of nature, is only possible in so far as those lows are known.”

                I believe in miracles.  In fact, I have seen miracles, many miracles, in my life.  I know a young woman who had a baseball-size tumor taken out of her brain and is able to carry on her duties as wife and mother.  I have personally been confined to a remote cabin with heavy overcast skies that prevented our flying home; I have seen an opening suddenly appear in those heavy clouds, an opening that was just large enough for us to fly through and continue our journey home above the clouds.  In a few days or weeks I will experience once again the annual miracle of life appearing after a long, dark and cold winter.  Yes, I believe in miracles and encourage you to open your eyes and see the miracles occurring all around you!