October 2020 — pg. 11
God used Paul to work many miracles. He says he did many signs,
wonders and miracles, and he did them over a long period of
time (2 Corinthians 12:12). So powerful was Paul that in Ephesus
people collected clothes he had worn and gave them to sick or
demon-possessed people, and they were healed (Acts 19:11–12).
Yet this same Paul, whose clothes healed people he didn’t even
know, was unable to heal his fellow-worker, Trophimus, whom he
had to leave sick at Miletus (2 Timothy 4:20).
It’s easy to think that because Jesus is the same yesterday, today
and forever (Hebrews 13:8) — and because this truth applies
equally to the other two members of the Trinity — when God acts
differently in different people’s circumstances, then the only thing
that is different is the people involved. We know this is sometimes
the case: In His hometown, Jesus was unable to do many miracles
because His own people did not believe in Him (Mark 6:5–6).
But blaming the victim is a dangerous business. We can’t see into
people’s hearts and, as we saw in the case of Paul, sometimes God
treats the same person differently. God rescued both Peter and
Paul from death several times, but then delivered each of them
over to be martyred.
These truths help us avoid the terrible mistake of blaming
someone when God chose not to do the miracle we all had hoped
for. I heard a story of a pastor who at his son’s funeral preached
that someone (or ones) in his congregation was responsible for
the child’s death, because they did not have enough faith that he
would be healed. This awful accusation reminds me of pagans
who consult a witchdoctor after a villager’s death to find out who
put a curse on the one who died.
Rather than searching for a scapegoat, we need to remember
that sometimes God answers prayer by saying, “No.” The best
prayer ever offered by the most perfect petitioner received exactly
that response. In Gethsemane, Jesus begged His Father to “let this
cup pass from me,” yet the answer was negative (Matthew 26:39-
44 KJV).
Near But Not Fully Here
Another way to frame why God seems to grant some pleas
and is silent regarding others others comes from the nature of
the kingdom of God. Mark summarizes the beginning of Jesus’
ministry, saying He proclaimed the good news of God, “The time
has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe
the good news” (Mark 1:15).
Notice that Jesus did not say, “The kingdom of God has come
here.” No, He said it “has come near.” Even though God Himself
was in the world in the person of Jesus, He had not yet fully brought
the kingdom. The word Jesus uses, ejggizw (eggidzō), means that
something is approaching, that it is near but not here. The phrase
“Rather than
searching for a
scapegoat, we
need to remember
that sometimes God
answers prayer by
saying, “No.”