Some people say they would believe in God or have faith if only God would give them a sign or a miracle. There are two problems with that reasoning. First, not all signs and wonders are from God. Secondly, signs and wonders do not produce true faith.
Most people think every miracle comes from God. Believe it or not, those who are not of God can perform signs and wonders, too (Matthew 24:24). Even when Moses came before Pharaoh to petition him to let God’s people go, Pharaoh’s magicians did some pretty impressive stuff, such as turning their rods into serpents and so on (Exodus 7).
Of course, God’s signs and wonders prevailed and Pharaoh did let the Israelites leave Egypt. And they were jubilant – until they reached the Red Sea. By now Pharaoh had second thoughts so he pursued them with his army. The Israelites stood with Pharaoh’s warriors on one side and the Red Sea blocking them on the other. They had seen the ten plagues sent by God, so it seemed likely they would lift up their voices shouting, “God will deliver us! God will deliver us!” But no, they said, “It would have been better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness!”
So once again God showed his power and might by parting the Red Sea. The Israelites walked through the sea, yet the Egyptian army drowned. This was indeed a miracle! But God didn’t stop there. As the Israelites journeyed God provided a pillar of fire, a cloud, sweet water, and manna to eat. Yet, they mumbled and grumbled themselves into wandering forty years in the wilderness. God performed miracle after miracle and the Israelites still lacked faith (Psalm 95:8, 9 NLT).
Why? Because faith comes from hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17), not from miracles. You gain faith by reading your Bible and believing what it says. Not only do you gain faith, you are able to distinguish miracles that are from God and those that aren’t (Isaiah 8:20; 1 John 4:1).
Faith is the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). If your faith is in signs, wonders, and miracles that you can see, you won’t truly believe until you “see” something else. You will continually need a miracle fix.
If you internalize the word of God you will not need to see a miracle to believe. Miracles confirm who God is (Mark 16:20; Hebrews 1:3, 4), but they won’t give you faith. Faith comes from reading God’s word, building a relationship with him, believing he has the power to perform signs and wonders, but realizing if he chooses not to, he is still GOD!
