Blinding Miracles
We sing too many songs about miracles and not enough about how to worship in the midst of pain, waiting, and unanswered prayer.
In my life, and in the vast majority of the lives I've walked beside for the past 40 years, we've witnessed only a handful of miracles yet countless moments of peace in the face of hardship.
Miracles still happen. Not saying they don't. And I'm also not saying we shouldn't ask for them boldly and persistently.
But...
To Thomas, Jesus says—
"...blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
John 20:29 | NIV
And with the thorn in Paul's flesh he learned—
"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Corinthians 12:8-10 | NIV
The danger in endlessly singing about miracles is we begin to view God transactionally. We slowly shift our minds to seek God for what He can do for us instead of coming to Him relationally.
This is exactly what happened to the vast majority of Jesus' larger group of followers.
Luke details Jesus' conflicted emotions as He enters Jerusalem on the colt, at the beginning of the final week of His life. Here's the scene with a crowd of disciples gathered in celebration, laying down their cloaks on the road—
When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Luke 19:37-38 | NIV
Seems perfectly appropriate at first glance. Jesus was the Son of God after all and He did come to bring peace. But Luke points out one key point—the reason for their joyful praise was due primarily "for all the miracles they had seen."
See, just a few verses later, as Jesus pushes through the noise and looks over the city, envisioning all the next week would hold, knowing these cheers of praise will turn to jeers of scorn, says these haunting words—
"If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes."
Luke 19:42 | NIV
Jesus did come to bring peace.
But not a temporal fleshly peace. Not a peace from sickness or pain or trial or waiting. But a deeper peace that can stand up in the face of diagnosis or singleness or barrenness or joblessness or loss and still believe the whisper from our Savior, "My grace is sufficient for you."
The crowd was looking for what Jesus could do for them, not what Jesus wanted to do in them.
The miracles blinded them from seeing Jesus' deeper and fuller purpose on earth.
And if we're not careful, we're likely to repeat the same old habit in our worship if we fail to balance our sung-prayers.
For worship leaders and songwriters, let's commit to finding and writing songs that recognize that God can do amazing things, but even if the miracle doesn't come, to recognize the deeper work Jesus came to do in our souls.