Scared Straight #1: Supernatural Stories Of Scripture Series

Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at the supernatural. It's incredible how many events are recorded in scripture. However, this often represents a hurdle for people who have only recently picked up a bible. They read unfathomable stories of power and provision. It can almost seem like a set of childhood fairy tales.

Did you know Thomas Jefferson made his own version of the Bible that removed all of its miracles? I appreciate his dedication, but he took out some of the coolest parts: Seas parting, leprosy healed, and dead people coming back to life.

He just couldn’t make himself believe that miracles like this could happen. And I get it – some of them are beyond comprehension. How’s that saying go, “Truth is stranger than fiction.”

From the beginning of Genesis, where the Supernatural act of creation begins out of nothing, to the end of revelation where Jesus descends from the heavens. The supernatural is offered without apology. God is beyond anything we can conceive. Talking donkeys and feeding 5000 people from a kids lunchable. Seriously, who comes up with this stuff.

Theologian and author, RC Sproul says of the supernatural: “if you expect a miracle—if miracles are expectable—there’s nothing miraculous about them. If they’re ordinary then they carry no certifiable weight. It’s by their extraordinary character that they have sign power: sign-ificance.” http://www.ligonier.org/blog/does-rcsproul-believe-miracles/

I believe miracles take place today. I believe the scriptures that describe miracles taking place after Jesus’ resurrection have continued. I also believe Jesus left behind His Spirit to connect with ours so through our faith we will continue His work in this realm. Faith requires trust in the unseen and I would add in the presently unknowable.

Robert Speers wrote in 1902 - The known world in which we live is often considered the natural world. Natural refers to the laws of the physical plane in which we live. It is the laws of cause and effect, orderly succession, understandable by what we, as humans, know of the ways this world works. Supernatural implies the suspension of the laws of nature. (POJ 255)

Supernatural is the realm of activity of unseen agents unknowable by science because it is “above” or transcending or going beyond nature. We often call events of the supernatural, “miracles.” These events are unable to be explained by science or predicted by the scientist, even one who has all the information possible about the context and applicable natural laws.

Let me tell you about Tess. Tess was a precocious eight-year-old little girl. One day she heard her mom and dad talking in a serious and somber tone about her little brother, Andrew. Tess didn’t understand everything that they were saying, but she got the gist: Her little brother, Andrew, was very, very sick...and they were completely out of money. They would have to move out of their house and move into a small apartment because Mom and Dad didn’t have enough money for the doctor bills and the house payment. On top of that, only a very expensive surgery could save Andrew now...and they could not find anyone to lend them the money. Just then, Tess heard her dad say to her tearful mother in whispered desperation, “Only a miracle can save Andrew now.”

Tess ran to her room, pulled out a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in her closet. She poured out all the change on the floor and counted it carefully. She then put the change back in the jar, put the jar under her arm, slipped out the back door and ran down to the Rexall Drug Store six blocks away.

The pharmacist was talking to a man intently and at first he didn’t notice Tess standing there. She waited patiently for a while and then dramatically cleared her throat, but still, no luck – the pharmacist did not see her. Finally, Tess got his attention by taking a quarter out of her jelly jar and tapping it on the glass counter. That did it. The pharmacist noticed her and said, “Just a minute. I’m talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven’t seen for ages.”

“Well,” said Tess, “I want to talk to you about my brother. He’s really, really sick – and I want to buy a miracle. His name is Andrew and he has something growing inside his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So… how much does a miracle cost? I have the money here to pay for it. It’s all that I have saved. If it isn’t enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much a miracle costs.”

The pharmacist’s brother was a well-dressed man. He stooped down and asked Tess, “What kind of miracle does your brother need?”