Miracle Invasion: The Holy Spirit's Gifts At Work TodayChikamu

The Working of Miracles  

The word miracle gets tossed around pretty loosely these days. If your favorite sports team pulls out a fourth-quarter comeback, it’s a miracle! If medical researchers come up with a new prescription for some chronic disease, it’s called a “miracle drug.”

But to be a bit more precise, here’s a definition in line with what the Bible calls a miracle: an event that supersedes known scientific, natural laws, which are temporarily suspended because of a supernatural act of God. In other words, the universe normally works a certain way … only in some cases, it doesn’t.

Fourteen-year-old Jamie Smith and two friends were messing around one January day in 2015 on a frozen lake outside St. Louis. About 150 feet from shore, the ice suddenly gave way. The other two boys managed to scramble out, but John sank to the bottom, while cries of “Call 9-1-1!” echoed across the lake.

It took Fire and Rescue 15 minutes to arrive, put on their gear, and fish his lifeless body out of the freezing, mucky water. They raced him to the nearest hospital, where CPR attempts went on for another 27 minutes. By that time, the distressed mother had arrived. The doctor at last called her into the ER room, ready to record an official time of death.

“I didn’t realize what he was preparing to do,” Joyce Smith tells. “I just knew we were in dire need of God. The doctor said I could touch John, so I walked up to his bed, grabbed his feet, and started praying that God would send his Holy Spirit to raise him up and heal him. And within moments of praying, they got a pulse!”

The surprise on everyone’s face was obvious. They jumped into a flurry of action, resuming CPR. With John’s heart now beating, he was quickly transported to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in downtown St. Louis. The doctor on staff turned out to be an expert in dealing with water-accident victims. “He kindly informed us,” the mother recalls, “that my son had only brain stem activity, his lungs were full of acid, and that if he did live, he would be a vegetable.

“I answered, ‘Doctor, I understand that you’re the best. Do the best of your ability—the rest is up to God.’”

To make a long story short … 16 days later the boy walked out of the hospital completely recovered. He even visited his Christian school on the way home to thank everyone for praying for him—and to pick up his homework.

The psalmist Asaph had it right when he wrote, “You are the God who performs miracles” (Psa. 77:14). True back then; true now.