I’ve had people say to me, “I just can’t believe in God because I’ve never seen him. I’ve prayed and never heard from him.”

And you know what? I believe them.

Jesus had a similar experience when he went back to his hometown after a ministry trip. The people said, “He can’t be the Messiah. He grew up here. His family still lives here.”

And Jesus worked very few miracles there.*

Yet, in contrast Jesus promised, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”**

So what’s the difference? What’s required to see the miraculous?

Literally just a minuscule amount of faith.

Have you ever looked at a mustard seed? I mean, it’s really tiny.

Yet, Jesus says that’s all the faith it takes to see the miraculous.

Just hope Jesus is who he said he was. And that he can do what he said he’ll do.

That’s it. It doesn’t get any more complicated than that.

Then the mountains in our lives will be moved.

And absolutely nothing will be impossible.

*Matthew 13:57-58
**Matthew 17:20 (NIV)

I find it ironic that the most militant atheists I know all grew up going to church. Those who rarely went to church, most of the time, are just indifferent. Yet those, who as a kid, went to church are the ones who seem the most vocally opposed to it.

One acquaintance posts antagonistic comments on Facebook. Yet, his thoughts reveal a pretty good knowledge of the Bible.

Another “loves to debate Christians,” yet was raised going to a fairly strict church. In college he made the decision to have no more of it and today labels anyone who believes in God as stupid.

A third was raised in a southern fundamentalist church. When she moved to the west coast she gave it up and said when she goes home they never talk about religion.

I experienced a similar journey in college turning away from my spiritual upbringing though not militantly.

Even Jesus found the same when he went back to his home town after a ministry journey.

Neighbors questioned him, “Who do you think you are? We watched you grow up. We know your family.”

It says they were offended by him, literally scandalized.

And they saw little of Jesus’ power.*

Matthew 13:57-58

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to see the miraculous and some don’t?

I’ve wondered why sometimes I’ve seen full up miracles and then later followed the exact same formula and nothing seems to happen. I mean what’s with that?

In a story of Jesus he comes to his home town and is met with resistance but also I think some honest questions.

“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”*

No doubt some meant this derisively. But I think there was also some honest searching with some.

I see two great questions which perhaps would help unlock the miraculous for us.

Honestly searching out, “Who is this Jesus? Is he really God? How can I live in a vibrant relationship with him?”

Then asking, “Is there real power? What power does God promise? What blessings does he offer?”

See I think often we want to see the miraculous but really have little idea of what God promises or confidence in the power available.

I wonder what we’d see if we really knew what to expect?

*Matthew 13:55-56 (NIV)

Let’s be honest. Whether you believe in God and miracles or not we all have times we could use one don’t we?

We face a crisis when we’d love to believe in and see one. Some divine intervention. A sickness healed, a marriage restored, emotions sorted out.

And how about some insight and clear direction when we’re facing a challenge? Wouldn’t we love to see down the path to know where the next steps are?

A story of Jesus hints at these promises.

No we can’t unleash that power on our own no matter how good we are. But as we expect it from God he rains it down on us.

Jesus has been teaching and working miracles. He’s tired so he heads for his hometown of Nazareth in Galilee.
“Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?’ they asked.”*

Even the ones who really didn’t believe in him, because he was the hometown boy, saw his undeniable power. Power to work miracles and give wisdom.

I wonder how much more of these we could see if we really expected them?

*Matthew 13:54 (NIV)

A friend told me the story of a bizarre interaction with a colleague.

This colleague, at times, had ridiculed him for his faith. My friend is pretty straight forward about what he believes but not the kind of person to evangelize in a professional setting.

One day this colleague agitatedly pulled my friend aside after a meeting. His son was sick in the hospital. The doctors had run tests and the results weren’t good. They told him there was little they could do and his son would probably die.

With despair in his voice he said to my friend, “You know I don’t believe in God but I’m desperate. Would you pray for my son?”

My friend responded, “Of course. I’ll pray for him to be healed completely.”

His colleague said, “You know if my son recovers I’ll have to rethink my whole perspective about God.”

Over the next couple of weeks my friend prayed diligently.

Amazingly the boy began to recover. The doctors were astonished. The father speechless.

Finally after the boy was released from the hospital his father talked with my friend. He said, “I just can’t explain it. But I still can’t believe in God. I guess we got lucky.”

I wonder if he’ll ever see another miracle?

During the ten years I pastored the church we experienced spectacular growth. Dynamic ministries for all ages were started. We saw lives dramatically changed and occasionally witnessed full up miracles.

Yet after ten years we faced a cross roads. For the church to keep moving forward we needed to make some major strategic changes. We faced some head winds that prompted the decision.

Over several months I consulted with different leaders and felt their resistance. Ten years of constant change and pressing forward had left many tired. And the ministry was at a stable comfortable place.

Yet, I’m not wired up to sit still for very long. I don’t do boredom well. And the church needed to keep moving forward or it would atrophy.

I knew I could probably press through the changes but I was concerned it could split the church which I didn’t want.
So I decided it would be best to resign.

One evening as we sat in a circle in the church parlor I announced my intentions to the board. Several board members expressed their sadness yet hesitant relief.

The core leader of the group summed up the feelings, “Doug I’m really sorry to see you leave. We’ve had a great run. But frankly I’m relieved to not have the pressure of pushing on.”

A few months later I left. Ten years later the church disbanded.

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