Do You Believe in Miracles?

What is a miracle?

In February 1980, at the winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY a team of American college kids upset the heavily-favored Soviet Union hockey team, acknowledged as one of the greatest of all time.

Since 1956, the Soviets had won the gold medal in this event at every Olympic Games except one. So no one expected the US to prevail.

As the game clock ticked down and the Americans had all but sealed the victory; as pandemonium broke out in the stands, a renowned sportscaster exclaimed, “Do you believe in miracles?”

What is a miracle?

The dictionary defines a miracle as an event beyond the power of any known physical laws to produce.

The Bible says a miracle is a “divine act or a special display of divine power.” And an incredible display of God’s power is the miracle at the Red Sea.

On the day after the Passover, in the evening portion at the beginning of the 15th day of Abib, about 3 maybe 4 million Israelites, together with several non-Israelites, began their journey out of Egypt (Exodus 12:37-38).

There were several routes the Israelites could have taken: the northern route through the land of the Philistines; the way of Shur straight east thru Beersheba; and the way of the Red Sea.

The route they were on headed straight east into Sinai where Pharaoh could never overtake them.

But God had something else in mind, and He told Moses to turn back and head south.

Between the Red Sea ahead, with towering mountains on either side, and the hard-charging, bloodthirsty Egyptian army closing in from behind, the Israelites faced near-certain destruction.

They were trapped.

Desperate and panic-stricken, they screamed at Moses.

“We shouldn’t have listened to you. We were much better off in Egypt. Now we’re going to get slaughtered in this wilderness.”

So Moses cried out to God for help. And God told him, “What are you waiting for? Stretch out your staff and hold it over the water. Then tell the Israelites to ‘Go forward!’”

Moses followed God’s instructions. And the waters of the Red Sea parted.

Mountainous walls of water were pushed back, hundreds of feet wide on either side. The seabed was exposed. Not damp and wet, not soft and muddy. But dry and hard!

The following morning, the Egyptian army went into the sea in hot pursuit, but they got bogged down. Their chariot wheels breaking off in the once-dry now wet, slick and muddy sea floor. 

There was confusion and pandemonium everywhere.

And when the Israelites had safely crossed to the other side, God caused the Red Sea to come crashing down on the stranded Egyptians. All of them drowned, including Pharaoh.

The parting of the Red Sea was a miraculous intervention that dramatically demonstrated the amazing power of the Great God.

And WHO exactly was this God every true follower of Jesus Christ pledges to put first and foremost before anybody and anything else?

The Bible records numerous scriptures attesting to the greatness of God, but we’ll turn to Isaiah 40:12.

12 Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?

Scientists estimate that water covers 71% of the earth. But God knows the exact amount of water that covers the earth!

What about the grains of dust or sand on the earth? Scoop some up and see if you can count how many there are in your hand.

How long do you think that’s going to take you? But God knows the exact count, instantly, because He’s God!

How about the weight of all the earth’s mountain ranges?

Men use these high-tech "gravity sensors" and laser-mapping tools, and the best they can come up with is an approximation.

But God knows EXACTLY, down to the last ounce, because He’s God!

Put all of the world’s military might, their weapons and armaments.

Put all of the geniuses, the scientists, the inventors.

Put all of the wheeler-dealers, the movers and the shakers, the power brokers. They’d be no match for God!

And yet this Great God of the entire universe is focused on weak and puny mankind because He has this marvelous, magnificent plan for each and every one of us (Hebrews 2:6-7).

God wants to form us into His very character so that one day — if we unconditionally surrender to  Him — we will become immortal, spirit members of His Family.

And that will be, without a doubt, the greatest, most wonderful miracle of all!