"Nothing Short of a Miracle"

Lets call it, “A Miracle from God”, or the intentional interaction of our Intelligent Designer, or maybe we can call it a theological master piece invented and designed by Jesus Christ himself. Interestingly enough the ministry of Jesus started with the controversial miracle of turning water used for ceremonial cleansing into wine for a Jewish wedding. In a sense I have always wondered what the formula was for Jesus' miracles. While making observations as I journeyed through the gospels a common principle came up over and over again. For example, do you remember the story of when Jesus fed five thousand people? What did he start with? A few fishes and some bread right? What about when Jesus healed the blind man? He used dirt and spit right? What about when Jesus healed the women with the issue of blood? He used a simple touch. All these things seem to have one thing in common. When Jesus would perform a miracle he would ‘start with what he had’ in a sense he combined the natural and the supernatural. It was not like the miracles of Christ came from nothing…Jesus usually used what was around him to demonstrate the glory, love, and power of God.
With this in mind I have been thinking a lot about the miracle of Burkes' healing. My pragmatic side wants to divorce the sacred (supernatural) from the secular (natural) and say that it is simply science and technology that is helping Burke find health. However, to think in this linier way would be to see only one part of the picture. When I dig a little deeper (and think vertically) it is profound how God is doing something that is “Nothing Short of a Miracle”. God has not changed in his principle ways of working miracles. God seems to start with what he has. So what do I mean by this? I mean God is working his miracle (Baby Burke) through the doctors he created, through the technology he allowed them to thinking of, through the prayers of people who love Jesus, and through a mother (Chris) and father (Nate) he considers a significant part of the Family of God. Ok let me try to unpack this a little more. For instance I was with Chris this weekend and she (through the wisdom of God’s Spirit) has develop a high protein, high caloric formula from her breast milk that is all natural and is helping baby Burke to gain weight. What is the method to this marvel, “you start with what you have”! Isn’t it amazing that the supernatural is so simple and yet so profound! I think I always expected a miracle to be God doing something out of nothing like when he created this earth. But God also makes the supernatural out of the simple. He does the extraordinary out of the ordinary. This is the message of the Cross…it is God doing something awesome out of something as common as death and life. Who would think to save the world through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus? God would! With this in mind let us not miss the miracle of Burke and give glory to God for what he has done!

Love Uncle Tim

P.S. I saw Burke this weekend and he is doing awesome. When I walked into the hospital for the first time in almost two months I received a warm welcome smile from Burke when he heard my voice. I also was able to feed him from the bottle that he is now eating from and he napped peacefully in my arms. I feel very special getting to be apart of this miracle!