(Judges 6:7-12) ..."when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord on account of Midian, 8 that the Lord sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from the house of slavery. 9 I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors, and dispossessed them before you and gave you their land, 10 and I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not obeyed Me.”’
11 Then the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. 12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.”
Classic! Gideon feels unworthy and wonders how God is going to use little ol' him. This seems to be the same scenario as with Moses... or later on, with the disciples... so THE angel of the LORD (Jesus of the Old Testament) performs a few miracles to bolster Gideon's confidence in God...(Judges 20-23) The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. 22 When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord, he said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” 23 The Lord said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die.”
God performed two more miracles for Gideon. Just as Jesus performed miracles for His disciples and those around, Jesus said...
(John 5:36) "But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me."
Jesus still performs miracles today... He just isn't here "physically" on earth for us to "physically" see. What we do see are the results of God at work, as well as God's words... eye witnesses have written all these things down (in the Bible, which is God inspired) for us to physically see.
(John 20:30-31) Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
We can also "see" through other people's testimonies of things God has accomplished. As well, we can see the miracles that happen in our own lives when we ask Him for things "that only God can do." It was once suggested to me to - keep a log of answered prayers! I wish I had done that. It's amazing how quickly we can forget - even the things that are huge, and so freaky that you KNOW it was something only God can do!... and at the time you think there is no way you'll ever forget it.
I do remember quite a few things though. I will share one particular miracle. When our daughter was born, there were complications. I knew from past experiences with my mom's battle with cancer that doctors love to give out percentages of prognoses. So looking at our baby in the oxygen machine that was keeping her alive, I asked the specialist, "So what is the prognosis?" The doctor shook his head and said, "She is going to die. You need to do whatever it is to prepare yourself."
Of course, I prayed. MANY people were praying. In my prayers, I "gave her to God", as we should give everything to God. But my whole prayer was, "She is Yours, Lord. I believe You are able to heal her. I would love it if it was Your will to heal her, but if it is Your will that she goes home to You, then give me the strength and peace to get through that. And whatever happens, may You be glorified."
She was on 100% oxygen for the first day, but she required less and less... the change was so radical and fast that the nurses and doctors were astounded. Because on the first day, even though we were not supposed to, I had glanced over at the some of the other babies in incubators that were barely a pound and commented to a nurse about how our daughter at 6 pounds 8 ounces must surely have a better fighting change. And the nurse shook her head and said, "I'm not supposed to say anything, but, the other babies have a better chance."
MIRACLE!!! All I can say! Thank you, Lord!!!
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