Do Miracles Need to Have a Natural Explanation?

The following is taken from a chapter in the book "Angry with God" by Scott Frazer.

 

 

In the musical FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, Tevye, the father of a Jewish family living in Russia, gives permission for his daughter, Tzeitle, to marry a young tailor named Motel. Tevye had earlier promised Lazar Wolf, the town butcher, that he could marry Tzeitle, but Motel and Tzeitle’s declaration of love and commitment convinces him to change his mind. Motel expresses his joy and disbelief at his good fortune by singing a song called “Miracle of Miracles.” Motel refers to a number of Old Testament miracles before telling his fiancé, Tzeitle, in the last verse,

 

But of all God’s miracles large and small,
the most miraculous one of all
is the one I thought could never be—
God has given you to me.

 

 

It is understandable for a newly engaged couple to be so in love that they think that God Himself miraculously arranged their meeting. Engagements happen every day, so other people might not consider them actual miracles. The problem with miracles is that they must have a natural explanation, which makes it hard to positively identify them.

 

 

 

Any such phenomenon can either be a miracle or a lucky coincidence. So it really depends on the nature and attitude of the person observing the phenomenon as to whether they believe they have seen a miracle. We are all biased in our judgments.

 

Those who don’t actively worship God don’t want to admit that miracles occur.

 

They have made the decision to ignore the spiritual side of their lives. They may not believe in God at all (atheists), or they may believe He is up there in Heaven but not involved with His children on earth (agnostics). For this group, possible miracles are discomforting news. Miracles would mean that God is real and actually involved in our earthly lives. Miracles would prove these groups were wrong in their decision to ignore the spiritual side of their lives—and people hate to be wrong. Since every miracle has a natural explanation, they will choose to accept only those natural explanations and continue their denial of God.

 

On the other hand, faithful believers in God are also biased. These people want to believe in miracles since a confirmation of supernatural powers would confirm their choices. By its nature, belief in God requires sacrifice. Active churchgoers spend much time and energy in church attendance, church callings, scripture study, and prayer. They sacrifice their money for tithing and other donations. After we dedicate our heart and soul to God, we want to find evidence that we are right. We want to find physical evidence of God, not just because we want to be proven correct in our choices, but also because we want the promise of eternal life to be real. If God is not real, then heaven is probably not real either. For faithful church members, this simply cannot be. Miracles confirm our belief in a loving Heavenly Father and our hope of an afterlife.

 

Within the group that recognizes miracles, there is still great diversity. Some people see miracles in every aspect of every-day life. How does one differentiate a miracle from a coincidence? The Catholic Church has a special division of authorities called the Miracle Commission. Their job is to travel to sites of proclaimed miracles and assess whether the church should accept the claim of a supernatural event.

 

Unfortunately, no such committee evaluates the myriads of possible miracles we hear about each day, so we are on our own to decide if a miracle or a lucky coincidence has occurred—and we don’t always agree in our conclusions.

 

T. C. Christensen wrote and directed the film 17 Miracles. In a followup book, More Than Miracles, he explains that he has decided to never reveal the list of the seventeen miracles for which he named the film.

 

I wanted to create discussion. The perception of miracles is a personal thing. What might be a miracle to one person might be just a coincidence to another. People have told me that they could count only five miracles in the film. Others have said they counted near thirty.

 

In his book on miracles, Eric Metaxas states his agreement and observations. All of us have presuppositions about the nature of things, about whether something can be beyond what we experience with our five senses. Sometimes our presuppositions are the result of our education, but they are just as often determined by, or at least partly the result of, our upbringing and the culture in which we were raised. . . . One man’s miracle is another man’s eye-rolling What’s the big deal? weird coincidence.

 

 

So, does God send the fortunate outcomes in your life, or are those “miracles” just random, happy endings? On one hand, we are encouraged to seek for the hand of God in the good things that happen to us so we can better appreciate the world in which we live. But, on the other hand, we are also encouraged to seek out truth. So, to take a mere coincidence and call it a miracle is misleading and disingenuous.

 

The Definition of a Miracle

 

As mentioned, a miracle is defined as “an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs.” But the definition of the word in our modern world has changed to “any event that turned out unexpectedly well.” The word has been so overused that it is probably too late to save the definition.

 

It seems that people love to use the most extreme adjectives when describing an event to others, and “miracle” is one such adjective. So we have the Miracle on Ice and miracle comebacks in sports. If we run into a friend in a far country, we call it a miracle. We have miracles in song, miracle kitchen appliances, and miracles at Christmas. In one book with the word miracle in the title, the author defines a miracle as “a shift in perspective from fear to love.”4 While sweet, most shifting perspectives do not require divine intervention.

 

Changing the definition of the word miracle to include any unexpectedly fortunate event confuses the discussion. You don’t know if the speaker is testifying that God has had a role in this incident or if she is just happy about something. To many faithful Christians, that distinction is important. If you are angry at God because everyone else seems to be seeing miracles besides you, be sure to check on their definition of what a miracle is.

 

Miracles are exciting. To think that God took His time to bless you with supernatural help or protection should be humbling.

 

 

In bearing a testimony about a miracle that you believed happened to you, how are you going to relate the experience without communicating how special you think you are to the Lord? Simply put, there are contrasts in our lives that need not be emphasized in Church talks and testimonies. I pray that Church members more fully appreciate the difference between private recognition of God’s blessings and their public declaration of miracles.

 

Remember that that which cometh from above is sacred, and must be spoken with care, and by constraint of the Spirit; and in this there is no condemnation, and ye receive the Spirit through prayer; wherefore, without this there remaineth condemnation. (D&C 63:64)

 

 

Miracles are exciting. To think that God took His time to bless you with supernatural help or protection should be humbling.

 

In bearing a testimony about a miracle that you believed happened to you, how are you going to relate the experience without communicating how special you think you are to the Lord? Simply put, there are contrasts in our lives that need not be emphasized in Church talks and testimonies. I pray that Church members more fully appreciate the difference between private recognition of God’s blessings and their public declaration of miracles.

 

Remember that that which cometh from above is sacred, and must be spoken with care, and by constraint of the Spirit; and in this there is no condemnation, and ye receive the Spirit through prayer; wherefore, without this there remaineth condemnation. (D&C 63:64)

 

Murphys Law

 

The goal of this chapter is not to discourage the reader’s personal testimony of modern-day miracles within the Church. They do occur. But we must realize that many people face ever-increasing hardships as one life challenge builds upon another—personal health issues, financial setbacks, marital problems, errant children, a poor work environment, depression, sleeplessness, etc. In that circumstance, miracles become hard to see. If you are in the middle of such life struggles, remember that the Lord has provided you with the miracle of the friends, neighbors, and Church  members who are willing to help. These people can be the “miracle-workers” in your life if you let them. In the end, a faithful follower of God cannot make major blessings and miracles a requirement of continued faithfulness. There are rules as to when and how heaven-sent miracles can occur, and they must be followed.

 

For those who are angry with God because you are not receiving a much-needed miracle, please examine your expectations. I am a great believer in the adage called Murphy’s Law—“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” The logic behind Murphy’s Law is simple. As you get into your car to drive to the airport, there is only one outcome that you will accept without complaint. You want to arrive at your gate safely and on time to catch your flight. But there are at least a hundred other outcomes that can occur. A car breakdown or accident, unexpected traffic delays, bad weather, full parking lots, or long airport security lines can cause you to miss your flight. If any of those disappointing outcomes occur, one could conclude that Murphy’s Law is active in your life.

 

On the other hand, if you successfully complete a business trip without any major delays, you should be delighted. Yes, sometimes life feels as if every day is an example of Murphy’s Law, but minor miracles do happen, many of which you never see.

 

 

 

** The following was taken from Angry with God. The opinions and views expressed herein belong solely to Scott Frazer and do not necessarily represent the opinions or views of Cedar Fort, Inc.