Raising children who believe in God’s power and miracles yet don’t treat God like a vending machine is no easy task.
We’ve longed to raise our kids in the knowledge that God is all-powerful, and he can do anything. I knew my kids were really understanding this point one day at dinner.
On this particular day, my 4-year-old was unhappy with the dinner I had cooked and voiced his complaint. In our house I make one meal for dinner, our family members are encouraged to have what they want from what is placed on the table in front of them. I am not a short-order cook, and my kitchen is not a restaurant where you can order whatever you want whenever you want it. We do not tolerate complaining at dinnertime over what is served. This is especially important since I consider what is both nutritious (fueling our bodies) and what is enjoyed by my kids when I plan our meals. I try to serve at least one thing they will enjoy at each meal.
But my 4-year-old, in his typically blunt fashion, told me he didn’t like dinner and would not be eating. He was expecting me to make exactly what he wanted (even though we did not have the ingredients). I responded to him by saying I made what we had available and could not make anything else appear out of thin air for him. His response? “Well God can.”
What do I say to that?
My 4-year-old had faith to believe that God could do anything. Was he really going to pray that the meal he wanted would show up out of nowhere? If he prayed for the meal he wanted and it didn’t show up on his plate would he start doubting the very existence of God himself? This prompted a quick conversation about how God was indeed able to make food appear, but God doesn’t exist to just give us whatever we want. So here are some good pointers to remember when talking to your children about God’s power and His ability to do miracles:
Remember: God is all-powerful
God is all-powerful – we can’t shy away from teaching our children the attributes of God. However, God’s miracles (His power on display) always have context. If all we talk about is His power or miracles and never talk about what miracles are for, we end up with a selfish theology. This selfish view of God says something like this: God is powerful and will use His power to give me things whenever I ask. We want to avoid this view that makes God’s power about us. So, what are the basics we need to remember about miracles?
1. Miracles are not about us.
While God blesses us with miracles, ultimately His miracles aren’t about us. Miracles reveal God’s glory, lead us to worship, remind us to fix our eyes on Christ, and help advance the gospel. In that sense, miracles are all about God and the gospel.
2. Miracles are about God
It is God who is at work in us to perform miracles both in our lives and through our lives. We can’t make miraculous things happen. We can’t manufacture a move of God. Only God can accomplish what is truly miraculous in our lives (or through our lives).
As I read through my Bible, I can’t help but notice that time and time again, both in the old and new testaments, when a miracle happens it is almost always followed by worship. A miracle from God opens people’s eyes to God’s glory or His plan. The response to seeing or experiencing miracles should always be to go back and honor God and praise Him. He is the giver of miracles. The giver of life. He is truly all-powerful. Miracles lead us back to God, to fix our eyes on Him, and to follow Him with our whole hearts.
When you experience a miracle:
If you or your family experience the power of God or a miracle, I would challenge you to lead your family to worship and praise. Thank God for what He has done and what He can do. Set aside time to think about what God has done and remember who He is. In the Old Testament, this looked like setting up alters or a memorial as a reminder of what God has done. Set up your own reminder if you can: write it down, talk about it, celebrate it; remember who God is through His displayed power in your life.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
-Ephesians 3:20-21 (ESV)
3. Miracles point us toward eternity.
We are part of the story of God. When God works in us and through us in His power, we are simply a part of His eternal story. This story started in Genesis and continues through revelation. We are simply living in the “in-between.” But so often we get distracted and caught up in our present moment. We are alive in this time for God’s purpose. But if we focus too much on the here-and-now we forget about the future to come.
Miracles are but a taste of the future that awaits us as believers. When we see a miracle and experience God’s power and goodness we get a glimpse of the future God has planned for us. Healings remind us of a time when there will be no more sickness or pain. Provision reminds us of a time that is coming when we will have no physical need. Miraculous safety reminds us of the coming kingdom in which there is no danger. The greatest miracle of all, salvation, reminds us of an eternity where we can dwell in the presence of God. There is no miracle that does not point us to look ahead to eternity with God.
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be o more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away”
– Revelation 20:4 (ESV)
4. Miracles help advance the gospel:
Signs and wonders have always been a part of the Gospel advancing. If your church is preaching miracles and supernatural gifts apart from the gospel that may just be a red flag.
Salvation alone is the greatest miracle! But often God will move in miraculous ways to confirm the gospel message in people’s lives. We can’t separate the gospel from miracles; after all, it’s the gospel that gives way to miracles. It’s through God’s grace we are enabled to experience miracles. Through His love we can experience His presence. It’s through His death and resurrection we are given life and eternity with Him.
While miracles (other than salvation) may or may not be present when we share the gospel, there are times when God will move in power in a miraculous way that according to Hebrews 2:3-4 bears witness to the gospel.
“[the message of salvation] was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.”
– Hebrews 2:3-4 (ESV)
In Romans 15:18-19, Paul writes that part of his work sharing the gospel included miracles. This is not from His own strength but “through the power of the Spirit of God”.
I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
– Romans 15:18-19 (NIV)
Miracles may not happen every time we share the gospel with someone, but I think if we could see from God’s perspective, we’d realize they take place more than we think because they accompany the gospel message to confirm who God is in our lives (see point #2).
5. True Miracles start at a place of surrender.
We are not the miracle workers. Miracles only happen through God’s power. If we want to see miracles, we have to lay down what we want and look for what God wants. If we want to see miracles, we have to be obedient – radically obedient – to Christ.
God cares more about you being who He has called you to be than giving you everything you want. But what I’ve seen in the western church is that we are looking for our own comfort more than conforming to Christ. When we go through a trial or pain, we immediately pray for a miracle to escape whatever we deem is wrong in our lives. But scripture tells us to “count it all joy when we face trials…” (James 1:2-4). Often, the way God makes us who he wants us to be is through trials. When we surrender to Him during trials, He can work a miracle in our hearts despite our circumstances.
In Matthew 7:22-23, Jesus says that there will be some on judgment day that say they have performed miracles and done great things in His name, yet he says to them “I never knew you” because they had not actually made Him their Lord. They were doing seemingly miraculous things, yet they were not obedient to what God had told them to do. When we call Jesus our Lord, we have to surrender to Him and obey what He calls us to do.
When we obey God, and not just give Him lip service, we will see true miracles in our lives as God shapes and purifies our hearts. We will walk in obedience to Him. We won’t need to guess about what He wants to do because when he says go, we will go. When He tells us to pray for miracles, we will see them take place. And when he speaks revival, we will be ready.
So, if you’re looking for miracles in your own life, or if you’re teaching your children about God’s power remember to start with surrender. Surrender your life to Christ. Surrender your way to His. Seek Him. Look for opportunities to share the gospel. Remember it’s not about us, it’s all about God. Celebrate when he moves and thank him for the glimpse of the future to come.
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