Now
when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from
heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the
Glory of the LORD filled the house. And the priests could not enter
into the house of the LORD, because the Glory of the LORD had filled
the LORD’s house. And when all the children of Israel saw how the
fire came down, and the Glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed
themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and
worshipped and praised the LORD, saying, For He is good; for His
mercy endureth for ever. 2 Chronicles, Chapter 7, verses 1-3.
This
passage never really hit me before, but when I read it this time it
left a stronger impact on me. I started thinking about how God has
had to do all of these very dramatic miracles to get people to
believe He is the One True God. I guess if I weren’t too sure of
my faith and I saw fire come down from heaven and burn up a slab of
meat, there would be no doubt in my mind that God was responsible for
it, even if I had doubted before!
Do
people have to have these monumental miracles before they believe in
God? It’s kind of sad that some of us have a Missouri (the
“Show-Me State”) mentality. Do I have to have God “Show-Me”
miracles before I’m truly willing to believe in Him and not doubt
His existence?
God
does all types of miracles in my life each and every day. When I was
taking a heavy class-load of difficult teacher preparatory classes, I
didn’t know how I would get through all of them. I had petitioned
the college to take 23 units that semester, so that I could have the
required classes to start student teaching the next semester. I was
praying to God about this on the way home from college one day. God
put the thought in my mind that I wasn’t supposed to worry about
it, because He was going to give me straight A’s.
I
thought, “How could You do this? These are some of the hardest
courses I have ever taken and I don’t have enough time to properly
study for all of them.” Then the thought that God had in my mind
was that He could do it, He’s God and He could do anything. I
relaxed after I thought about it a few minutes. He can do anything,
provided I trust Him to. I didn’t want to be like Peter who sank
when he got fearful, so I asked God for the willingness to trust that
He would take care of me.
I
would pray a quick prayer over each homework and test question,
something like, “God please take care of this one,” and the
answer or the way to solve the statistical problem would just be in
my mind. God did give me straight A’s through all of that. It was
just like the thought He gave me those many months earlier in the
car.
God
works in my life in a variety of ways. I don’t always say formal
prayers to God when I have something on my mind. I just talk to Him
and I know God hears me. God answers me in lots of different ways,
but I don’t hear the actual Voice of God from heaven saying,
“Debbie, this is what you are supposed to do.”
Sometimes
He answers me by having things happen, like my stalled car starts
right after I pray about it. Sometimes He has things not happen,
like when my first husband and I didn’t get a house we were trying
to buy. We were so disappointed at the time, but six months
afterward my husband got laid-off of work. Later, I realized that it
was a good thing we hadn’t gotten the house, because we could have
lost everything we owned. When things don’t turn out the way I
ask, usually God will show me why at a later time, as in this
example. Sometimes, God just puts thoughts or ideas in my mind, just
like when God let me know that He was going to give me straight A’s.
Sometimes He guides me by the instincts He gives me. The important
thing is that I have to listen to them and not go off in my own
direction, ignoring those instincts.
God
does all types of miracles in our lives every day, if we would only
open our eyes to see them. Do we have the “Show-Me” mentality
where we need fire to come down from the sky before we believe in
God?
Because this is an example of how I’ve applied this Bible passage to my life, it doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the passage.
This is
a connection I've made from this Bible passage. Please share your
connections.
Please click on comments below to share your suggestions. Thanks! Debbie
