Acts, Chapter 4: Signs, Miracles, and Wonders

My question last week, after reading about Pentecost and the healing of the lame man was: “where are the miracles today?” The Holy Spirit is still at work in the world, so why don’t I see more signs and wonders and marvelous works of God by the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus?

As I read chapters 4 and 5, I started to pick out and count all of the miracles, signs, works, and wonders of the Holy Spirit in these chapters alone:First in chapters 1-3: the resurrected Jesus, the acension of Jesus, wind and fire at the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the gift of many languages, Peter’s preaching, 3000 people repent and are baptized, the unity of the church, the lame man healed.

Then, in chapter 4,:

  • Another 2000+ men are added to the church (not to mention the women whose number God only knows).
  • Peter, filled with the Spirit, preaches so boldly and eloquently that he astonishes the Sanhedrin.
  • Peter has courage that wasn’t present before the resurrection (Peter denied Jesus and ran away), and he says, “we cannot but speak of the things we have seen and heard.”
  • After the believers pray for courage and signs and wonders, the prayer meeting place starts shaking (earthquake tremor?) and they get the boldness they asked for.
  • The believers are so moved to generosity that no one among them lacks anything, a miracle if ever there was a miracle.

And that’s just the first four chapters of the book of Acts. They saw signs and wonders and were astonished, and I’m sure the Holy Spirit is still at work in much the same ways. So, I’m thinking maybe the problem is not with the lack of miracles in our day but rather with my vision and my sense of wonder and gratitude. I asked the Lord to give me the ability to see and respond to the signs and wonders He is doing now, and I’m going to be looking carefully this week to see what He shows me.

Blaise Pascal wrote: God is “willing to appear openly to those who seek him with all their heart, and to be hidden from those who flee from him with all their heart. God so regulates the knowledge of himself that he has given indications of himself which are visible to those who seek him and not to those who do not seek him. There is enough light for those to see who only desire to see, and enough obscurity for those who have a contrary disposition.

How have you seen God at work in the past week?

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