Miracles and Means

Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.
(Luke 8:55 – NIV)

Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead. The body without the spirit is dead (James 2:26), but Jesus is the giver of life. He spoke to her as if she was alive because God “quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Romans 4:17).

Notice that she was given meat to eat; you see, although Jesus performed in the supernatural realm that did not mean that natural means were not used as well. She was brought back to life, but her life was not now supernaturally different, it would have to be lived as it was before she died. She had not eaten for a long time and she needed food. Likewise Elijah was given super speed by the hand of the Lord (1 Kings 18:46), but he probably needed a drink of water afterwards!

Applying this to our lives is important. For example, after we have received a healing or deliverance, say from cancer caused by smoking, we cannot just go back to our habit and expect to still remain unhurt. A supernatural intervention does not negate all the laws of physics from that point on, because a “miracle”, or God moving in an overtly providential way (healing, deliverance, etc.) is for a specific thing and a specific time. You get a second chance, another choice, but not a permanent vacation from responsibility.

Consider that the Israelites still had to walk across the Red Sea, and later they still had to look up at the brazen serpent, otherwise they would have died. It is not hard to imagine that some saw this provision as foolishness, and died as a result of not obeying God. Similarly we must cooperate with God and not fall back to our old ways and make the grace of God of none effect.

Whom the Son sets free is free indeed, let us not run back to the jail cell, or be so hasty to place the shackles back on our feet. When we are set free from bondage, we are only setting ourselves up for more problems if we do not turn to something else. How terribly often have we heard of or known someone (or been someone!) that has overcome an addiction, only to pick it back up again worse than before. This is why we should listen to Peter (2 Peter 2:20-22) talk about the passage in Proverbs 26:11 that says the dog returns to his vomit again.

We need new food. We must feed on Christ, and not just be free from Satan. We need to be released from the enemy’s power, for sure, but we must not become a “dry place” that is, we must stay “wet” with the overflow of the Spirit in our lives (John 7:37-39). This is why we must trade our old habits for newer, godly ones, we must spend our time not idle, but engaging in spiritual disciplines such as bible study and prayer, and have an accountability factor in our lives to assure us that we don’t slide back into sin. This is a powerful reason to understand why we need to be plugged in to a local body of believers. God often shows His providential provision thorough conventional channels, His supernatural power through natural means.