Do we have any responsibility for making a miracle happen? Granted we all should realize that God is the only one who can truly make a miracle happen, but we need to consider a few things about what provokes God to move on our behalf.
First, consider that we are made in the image of God and that God desires us to be like him. When God created Adam and placed him in the garden, God wanted Adam to feel the joy of creation in a small way by giving him the privilege and responsibility of working with God in this new creation. God purposely left some things UNDONE so man could have a hand in its development. Remember, Adam was responsible for managing and developing the garden of Eden. Also God gave Adam the right and privilege to name all the animals. Not some of them, all of them. The list had to be extensive in this task God was preparing Adam to grow in his understanding of the future to come. Look what Genesis says about that encounter.
Genesis 2:19
Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
God lets Adam be creative with naming the animals. God waited to see what Adam would come up with and I’m sure the Lord could have picked more appropriate names and yet he was pleased with what Adam created. In fact scripture said something like, “Good job Adam, we will go with that! It was in that creative opportunity that Adam realized there was no one that he could relate to on an equal basis. He discovered things about himself and the animals. Sometimes we don’t realize truths until we are actively involved in working with God in the responsibilities given us to do. Without our cooperation and engagement our ignorance leads us, rather than God.
Becoming followers of Christ we soon learn that God wants us to develop our character to be just like Jesus in how he thinks and acts. That requires vision. It’s not that God wants our personalities lost, but he wants us to partner with him like Jesus did.
There was an event, early in Jesus’ ministry where I believe Jesus allowed Peter to be involved in a creative miracle. The story goes that Jesus is teaching the people and they start crowding him. He saw some boats and thought he could get some space from the crowd by getting in a boat. Often times scripture doesn’t explain every detail in a story but it gives us the basics so we can discover the principles. In this particular story we are given some of the details but not all of them and it allows us to EXTRAPOLATE what details need to be included that make the story fuller without changing the truth God wants us to find.
You have to believe Jesus didn’t just get into a boat without asking the owner, and then he would have asked the owner if he would push off from the shore a little bit. At any time the owner of the boat, Peter, could have refused because he was tired from working all night and the story would have ended there. Peter said yes to both requests. I believe these agreements to Jesus’ requests positioned Peter to experience a miracle he neither asked for nor expected. Or, had Peter been praying while fishing for God to bless him with a catch? Sometimes our prayers are answered when we least expect it.
Luke 5:1-3
One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
In the next part of this story we can also extrapolate something about how Peter must have felt. Peter owns the boat. He responded to the first two requests, but now Jesus asks him to put out into deep waters and go fishing. This final test is whether Peter, a professional fisherman, would listen and respond to a young rabbi who probably new little about the fishing. The amazing thing is Peter did so against his reason and his experience. It is at this point that a miracle happens. How many times have we let our logic or human reasoning override the voice of God? Too many I think for all of us.
What if in the first two requests Peter said no to Jesus? What if at the end of the day, after not catching a thing all night and then spending all day in a boat with Jesus, he said, “I’m tired and going home thank you very much”? Then by all reason we would not have this story to teach us that, to a certain extent, we either help to usher in miracles or we help to shut them down.
Peter, who was accustomed to hard work to make a living, and understood how the fishing business works, realized that a miracle was happening because he responded to Jesus’ request. Remember, Jesus did not demand these requests, he asked for them. Peter could have refused at any time. God is not looking to force our compliance but desires our cooperation. When we cooperate miracles can happen.
Is it possible we have short circuited previous miracles because we failed to respond to God’s requests? Is it possible at some point we didn’t see the logic or reason to do whatever we felt God was requesting of us and we bailed on God because it just didn’t make any sense? So many times when someone got healed in scripture Jesus said, “Your faith has made you well.” In other words, we have a part in the miracles that happen, and we may have a part when they don’t happen.
Peter, once he realized what was happening, made this outrageous confession that sounds like he didn’t want to be around Jesus, but in fact was the farthest thing from the truth. Peter was scared and his words make that clear, yet because he “fell at Jesus’ knees,” his body was saying just the opposite.
Luke 5:8
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”
More than likely Peter realized Jesus did this miracle partly in response to Peter’s compliance to Jesus’ previous requests. The miracle of catching a school of fish was in part because of Peter. Peter realizing this, I think he was concerned that he might be a problem for Jesus in the future because he knew his impulsive nature. And yet Peter said this all the while falling at Jesus feet. Why? I think he so wanted to be part of God moving but he knew his own frailty.
If we want to see God move supernaturally we need to admit our own frailty and at the same time confess our desire to be used of God. Maybe then we will be a part of some amazing miracles ourselves.
Questions:
1) Have you seen or been part of a similar miracle where God makes requests? It could happen today if we do as the Holy Spirit leads us.
2) Have you failed to respond positively to the voice of God because it just didn’t make sense? Don’t let mistakes of the past keep you from your God-ordained future.
Loving to think and reason out the scripture,
Pastor Dale
Leave a Comment