No Risk, No Miracle

I’ve seen God do some incredible miracles. Blind people have received their sight, the deaf can now hear, and I’ve even witnessed the dead raised to life through the mighty name of Jesus.

Some of the most amazing miracles have come during overseas crusades. In nations where there is little access to doctors, people are desperate for a touch from God – and He comes through for them when they claim His promises.

God wants you to know He’s still in the miracle-working business today, just as He was in the days when Jesus walked the earth in Bible days:

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

This means the same power that brought people healing and deliverance 2,000 years ago is available to YOU and your loved ones today. It doesn’t matter what country you live in or whether you are rich or poor. God responds to the prayer of faith and honors the promises in His Word.

Steps of Faith

If you need a miracle of some kind in your life right now, there’s an important principle I want to share: In all likelihood, the Lord will instruct you to take some step of faith in order for your breakthrough to come.

Throughout the Bible, God did miracles when people took a “risk” of some kind to activate their faith. It’s easy to miss this! We look back and know the story has a happy ending, but things weren’t so easy for the person trying to believe God and follow His instructions. Here are a few examples of what I mean:

• A widow’s flour and oil. Put yourself in the shoes of the widow who only had enough food for one more meal for her and her son. Then a prophet of God comes on the scene and tells her to feed him first! The instruction seemed not just risky, but ridiculous. Yet it brought the widow an amazing breakthrough of God’s provision (1 Kings 17:8-16).
• Sending the worshipers first. If you were King Jehoshaphat, surrounded by enemy armies, wouldn’t you consider it risky to send out worshipers first into battle instead of warriors? However, that strategy brought an astounding victory, when the Lord “set ambushes” for Judah’s enemies (2 Chronicles 20:1-23).
• Walking on water. Many believers like to ridicule Peter for his mishap in trying to walk on water. Things were going just fine at first, but then his faith got sidetracked when he started looking at the wind and waves instead of at Jesus. Yes, Peter’s step of faith took an unfortunate turn when he began to sink (Matthew 14:22-33). But I still think he had won a great victory. After all, the other disciples were too afraid to get out of the boat!

Countless other stories could be cited: The Israelites were only able to cross the flooded Jordan River after the priests stepped into water…When everyone else was terrified of the Philistine giant, David boldly faced him with just a slingshot and some stones…Naaman only got his healing after he humbled himself and followed Elisha’s instruction to dip seven times in the river.

A Call to Action

I’m a strong believer in the power of faith, but the Bible teaches that faith without corresponding actions is “inactive and ineffective and worthless” (James 2:20 AMPC).

So if you need a breakthrough today, make sure that you…

1. Believe God’s promises.
2. Ask Him what He wants you to DO.

If you need a financial breakthrough, perhaps He’s calling you to take a step of faith to sow a seed into His Kingdom. If you’re seeking restoration of your health or your family, perhaps He’s directing you to try something you’ve never done before.

When you obey the Lord, your “risk” will always be rewarded!