The Word Given and the Miracle Performed

With a word the heavens were created. A word brought the breathtaking mountains into existence. The Almighty whispered and the world was born.

It was with words, loving and tender that God communed in the garden with Adam and Eve. Down through the pages of Holy Writ we find God speaks again and again. Through the words of God the miraculous happened, communion flourished, messages were sent and commands given.

Words were thundered from Mount Sinai and written on stone. Yet many chose not to draw near and commune with the God of Heaven.
God communicated through his prophets. He wooed and lingered long. At just a word, over and over again miracles happened. However, God’s people resisted. In other words, they rejected God’s love and fellowship. They turned to their own way.

The Word that was Silenced

Throughout generations, God was faithful. Heaven sent words of consolation, of command, of promise and of judgment. Finally, after years and with a grieved heart, Heaven fell silent. God’s treasured creation had turned Him away. The very words that brought them into existence were no longer welcome. Subsequently, the miracles were disdained and their God abandoned.

God longed to speak again to His people. On the other hand, He knew the time was not yet. Though time is not measured in heaven, God calculated the moments of time on earth as He awaited the fullness of time.

The years had come and gone down on earth. The judgment of God had been meted out. Captivity in another country had been filled with heartache. Through the governing of God, his people were brought back to Jerusalem, yet the heaven’s remained silent. The time of miracles with just a word seemed to be a thing of the past. Ordinary days came and went.

The people prayed for a Deliverer. They longed for the Messiah who had been promised. However, the words they spoke seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. The silence drummed loud and long.

The big, the grand and the miraculous were what they looked for. Hadn’t they heard the stories that had been passed down through the ages? For instance, God had spoke and worlds were formed. In addition, waters had parted, walls had fallen and armies vanquished by the strength of a word from God.

Likewise, by the word of his prophet, there had been no rain for three years, a boy had been raised from the dead, food had been provided, mouths of lion had been shut, and men had been rescued from fiery furnaces. For certain and sure, God would answer again in momentous proportions.

The Miracle of the Word made Flesh

It was just a breath. A ripple or rustle of movement, when God chose to reach out again to his cherished creation. It was not with a thundering voice that God spoke. It was within the womb of a young virgin that God encompassed the message for his people.

The miracle that is Christmas came in the small and insignificant. A peasant girl and carpenter. An inconsequential town and a lowly stable. It was not with the spoken word, that God communicated again. It was with the Word made flesh. Jesus had come in human form with a message of grace and forgiveness. Of deliverance and healing. A gift that was Love.

In Jesus was encompassed the full message of God Almighty. Jesus had come with a different kind of miracle. It wasn’t the eye-catching miracle that everyone was expecting. On the other hand, angelic hosts could not keep from proclaiming praise for the Good News that had silently slipped in to the world. There weren’t walls of monstrous proportion crashing to the ground. However, the repercussions of His quiet coming reached across the expansive wall of time.

It was a miracle mid the ordinary. In the mundane and pain of birth, God’s message of great love came swaddled in everyday cloths. The Word came in human form straight from the heart of God. A miracle to be acted out over and over again in our own everyday story.

The Miracle that was Missed

Because they were watching for the big, splashy miracle they missed the quiet coming of the miracle of the Messiah. How prone are we to miss the miracles that God brings to our every day life? We pray with agonizing words and desperate prayers. In addition, words spill with longing for a mountain moving miracle. Furthermore, we yearn for the inescapable miraculous.

However, nothing happens. We see emptiness that is filled with deafening silence. Consequently, our eyes become closed to the different kind of miracle that God wants to work in our lives. As a result, the devil slips in with his insidious lies and messages filled with doubt and confusion. “God really doesn’t hear you. He doesn’t love you. See, He isn’t faithful to meet your need.”

Above all, if we are not careful, these lies will burrow deep within our psyche and mar the life of beautiful trust that God wants us to live. We must be on guard and refute the lies and speak the truths of God to our heart. On the other hand, if we don’t speak the truths of God into our hearts we will miss the miracle of the Messiah just as the Jews did.

The Miracle in the Ordinary

Throughout the hard of life, remind yourself of the fact that God is faithful. If the mountains haven’t been removed and the situation hasn’t been reversed, look for Him in the ordinary. Meanwhile, in the middle of your pain, listen to His words of love. Trust Him still and see Him work the miracle of giving enduring strength for the next step. Realize the guidance that is given for the looming decision. See the miracle of hope that is received for the future. Moreover, know that there is peace in the midst of the storm and grace given for each moment.

Look for a different kind of miracle this Christmas. The miracle in the ordinary. For that is where we see the greatest miracle of all. The miracle of the Messiah. In other words, the Word made flesh. He has come to dwell among us. He is there in the messy, in the ordinary and in the hard. Acknowledge the moments in the mundane and messy of life. Those moments that continues to whisper God’s message down through the annuls of time with these words, “Emmanuel….God with us.”