Show-Me Christian

Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the Glory of the LORD filled the house.  And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the Glory of the LORD had filled the LORD’s house.  And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the Glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped and praised the LORD, saying, For He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever.  2 Chronicles, Chapter 7, verses 1-3.

This passage never really hit me before, but when I read it this time it left a stronger impact on me.  I started thinking about how God has had to do all of these very dramatic miracles to get people to believe He is the One True God.  I guess if I weren’t too sure of my faith and I saw fire come down from heaven and burn up a slab of meat, there would be no doubt in my mind that God was responsible for it, even if I had doubted before!
Do people have to have these monumental miracles before they believe in God?  It’s kind of sad that some of us have a Missouri (the “Show-Me State”) mentality.  Do I have to have God “Show-Me” before I’m truly willing to believe in Him and not doubt His existence?
God does all types of miracles in my life each and every day.  When I was taking a heavy class-load of difficult teacher preparatory classes, I didn’t know how I would get through all of them.  I had petitioned the college to take 23 units that semester, so that I could have the required classes to start student teaching the next semester.  I was praying to God about this on the way home from college one day.  God put the thought in my mind that I wasn’t supposed to worry about it, because He was going to give me straight A’s.
I thought, “How could You do this?  These are some of the hardest courses I have ever taken and I don’t have enough time to properly study for all of them.”  Then the thought that God had in my mind was that He could do it, He’s God and He could do anything.  I relaxed after I thought about it a few minutes.  He can do anything, provided I trust Him to.  I didn’t want to be like Peter who sank when he got fearful, so I asked God for the willingness to trust that He would take care of me.
I would pray a quick prayer over each homework and test question, something like, “God please take care of this one,” and the answer or the way to solve the statistical problem would just be in my mind.  God did give me straight A’s through all of that.  It was just like the thought He gave me those many months earlier in the car.
God works in my life in a variety of ways.  I don’t always say formal prayers to God when I have something on my mind.  I just talk to Him and I know God hears me.  God answers me in lots of different ways, but I don’t hear the actual Voice of God from heaven saying, “Debbie, this is what you are supposed to do.”
Sometimes He answers me by having things happen, like my stalled car starts right after I pray about it.  Sometimes He has things not happen, like when my first husband and I didn’t get a house we were trying to buy.  We were so disappointed at the time, but six months afterward my husband got laid-off of work.  Later, I realized that it was a good thing we hadn’t gotten the house, because we could have lost everything we owned.  When things don’t turn out the way I ask, usually God will show me why at a later time, as in this example.  Sometimes, God just puts thoughts or ideas in my mind, just like when God let me know that He was going to give me straight A’s.  Sometimes He guides me by the instincts He gives me.  The important thing is that I have to listen to them and not go off in my own direction, ignoring those instincts.

God does all types of miracles in our lives every day, if we would only open our eyes to see them.  Do we have the Show-Me Christian mentality where we need fire to come down from the sky before we believe in God?

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.