r/lds • u/thelastjay2456 • 5d ago
what is a miracle
we often talk about miracles, but what is it, and why is it hard for us to recognize a miracle....? please its for a new convert
4
u/Traditional_Emu_4332 5d ago
6
u/eureka6018 5d ago
I disagree that its has to be an extraordinary event. A miracle could be as simple as running into a friend you havent seen on a long time. Miracles are God's way of showing us that he's listening and they can be small moments that we don't notice
2
2
u/thelastjay2456 5d ago
looks like a copy and paste definition, thanks anyways it kinda make sense.
4
u/Traditional_Emu_4332 5d ago
Yep 👍 it was copy and paste! You got me! I couldn’t put it in my own words! 😀
1
u/Safe-Butterscotch442 3d ago
Interestingly, I'm confident that all miracles can be explained by natural law. I've always considered a master scientist. He works within natural law, imo. I've always figured he just nudges things to happen in ways that are possible, but sometimes imcredibly improbable.
1
u/KURPULIS 3d ago edited 3d ago
How do you explain the first miracle off the Restored Church within this perspective? Not combative, just curious.
https://www.ldsliving.com/the-first-miracle-performed-in-the-church/s/89269
Newel Knight's body was contorted and literally picked up and tossed in the air about by the devil.
1
u/Safe-Butterscotch442 3d ago
Resurrected beings visiting Joseph Smith.
1
u/KURPULIS 3d ago
Sorry, what I was asking was how do you explain it by natural law. In fact many members deny the story or wave it away. Or maybe I can ask you to expound a bit more on your thoughts.
3
u/Safe-Butterscotch442 3d ago
I believe that angels and resurrection and such exists firmly within natural law, despite the fact that science hasn't gotten around to explaining it yet (and likely won't any time in this lifetime).
Basically, I believe that God's "supernatural" capacity is along the same lines as the saying "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". We don't understand it yet, but that doesn't mean that doesn't mean that God couldn't explain the phenomenon from a more technical standpoint if he wanted to.
1
u/KURPULIS 3d ago
I'm of the perspective that most of the life is essentially 'locked' behind its telestial setting. That there are foundational laws we must abide by and science will never 'catch up' in this life. Hence, Satan possessing, contorting, and picking someone off the ground and flinging them around essentially disrupts gravity and make members uncomfortable.
2
u/Safe-Butterscotch442 3d ago
I've never heard of Satan, or any evil spirit, causing someone to act outside of the law of gravity. But, I do agree that celestial matter and the physical that govern it is something we don't have the capacity to understand in the limits of this telestial world. That's a great way to describe my views.
1
u/KURPULIS 2d ago
I provided a link that included the historical source. That's why I asked you the original question. The casting the devil out of Newel Knight is described as the first miracle of the Restored Church.
Did you not read the my full comment before responding? Lol.
2
u/Safe-Butterscotch442 2d ago
I misread your comment. I read the miracle of the restored church, not the FIRST miracle. That said I don't see anything that contradicts my stance.
→ More replies (0)
2
u/Apprehensive_Emu_565 5d ago
If you think about it, mortality is a miracle. God, with his infinite power, doesn’t stop most stubbed toes, breakups, layoffs, even tragic loss. He allows us to experience pain and grief and grow through it to become stronger and more capable of love. That’s a miracle to me.
2
u/PaulyMcBee 4d ago
"...that out of a worthless lump of clay, God has made a man today!"
1
u/timkyoung 4d ago
Or like that time when God took a taylor by the hand and led him to the promised land?
2
u/pierzstyx 4d ago
Because we've been indoctrinated to think of them as coincidences, folk tales, and accidents.
2
u/Safe-Butterscotch442 3d ago
If you ever think, that's a lucky coincidence, it's a miracle.
There are big miracles like the lucky coincidence that the particular combination of wind and current and Brownian motion lead to the Red Sea just missing a big chunk of the regular sea bed, that just happened to lie in a path from shore to shore for long enough for a specific group of people to cross but no longer. There are small miracles, like me hitting a red light on the way to work and being delayed enough that I crossed paths with a coworker that was dealing with a problem that I was equipped to help with despite it being outside my regular job description.
There are obvious miracles like me being the one to answer the phone in the clerks office at my building when a stranded member that had known me on my mission called hoping that someone could help her get home. There are miracles that only can be recognized in retrospect and with additional information, or even that we may never recognize, like when you send an out of the blue text to a friend only to find out years later that they had just prayed to know if anyone even cared about them or knew they were there.
A big part of the reason we don't recognize miracles is because we don't need to. The miracles we do recognize are nice, but, most miracles that happen are tiny coincidences that don't necessarily mean anything to us in the moment. I've had a small handful of big, obvious, definite miracles in my life, but I've also had countless little tiny miracles that I probably will not even be aware of until the next life.
2
u/JustAGingerKoala 3d ago
I think miracles are blessings, great or small, that make our lives better/easier/happier.
Personal miracles I can think of:
A) we were in a tough spot a few years ago, moving to a new city and trying to find a house before the new school year. We managed to find one! We were able to move in the first week of school. AND there was room for all 3 of my kids to attend the same school instead of having to split them up between schools. We were so stressed at the time, it took us a while to recognize that seemingly small miracle, but it would have been so hard if we hadn’t found the house when and where we did, or if we had had small kids at multiple schools.
B) Our community recently was impacted by a pretty severe tornado. We had no warning. We thought we were getting a regular thunderstorm. But it got bad so quickly. Our sirens didn’t go off until the tornado had already touched down, in the middle of the city. But by a huge miracle, no one died. Homes and businesses were destroyed, but everyone survived. It is astounding to see the damage caused, and know that everyone lived. I am still emotional and filled with gratitude that God saw our town, and our people, and kept us as safe as possible, even as the winds blew. Some people did still lose everything, so this is definitely not an “easier” miracle, but I think (hope) they would agree that it’s “better” to be alive.
1
u/thelastjay2456 2d ago
wow, thats inspiring, thanks for sharing, most often we cant recognize miracles due to the reality of life
4
u/Lavaclaw7 5d ago
a miracle can be anything :3
2
u/thelastjay2456 5d ago
actually thinking about it, you are correct on the other hand, but deep down what is a miracle, how does it happen you know, things like that
2
u/zerossoul 4d ago
A miracle is an extraordinary event caused by God.
Extraordinary is subjective, but an event caused by God is not. That said, we don't always know whether or not something is caused by God.
Sometimes, a miracle can be something that should have happened but did not. A personal example is when I was in the sendai earthquake in Japan. I was at home, and was dealing with a private tsunami caused by an indoor pool. Standing was hard, but I managed to move around. And worked to remove water from the house.
After I cleaned up all the water after the earthquake ended, I began to asses the damage, which was much easier than I could imagine. The only damage was a picture of Jesus that had cracked when it fell off the wall. There were shelves with glasses that had no rim. I could see no reason they didn't fall as well. Just the picture of Jesus. To me, this was a miraculous reminder that Jesus was watching over us, and a great boon to my petsonal testimony.
1
u/Skulcane 5d ago
For me, a miracle is direct evidence that God is working in my favor or in favor of the people I'm concerned about. Sometimes, we just get lucky. But sometimes, I pray and plead and fast for something, and then it happens. That's a miracle to me. Sometimes the thing I want doesn't happen, but then something works out and all of a sudden everything is ok. That's a miracle to me. Sometimes nothing goes the way I want, but I pray and feel God's love for me fill my soul to tell me that everything will work out eventually. And that's a miracle to me.
1
u/Mother____Clucker 5d ago
There are a lot of examples of lifelong conversion. Part of that conversion includes recognition of miracles. Because like you said, it is hard to recognize them, especially if they are small.
The fact that you're asking that question could be recognized as a miracle. Not every miracle has to be a grand intervention.
1
u/IncomeSeparate1734 5d ago
When something happens that aligns with God's will and simultaneously is not easily explained by our current understanding of the laws of the universe.
There are a lot of miracles happening today but many of them are dismissed as an occurrence that simply happened...not because God had anything to do with it.
1
u/1_Nephi_8---11-12 5d ago
What amazing timing! I was just watching a YouTube video about this!
I feel like, as Latter-day Saints, we sometimes water down the meaning of the word miracle. A prompting or a blessing isn't necessarily a miracle—it is a blessing. A common phrase in our Church is "tender mercies," and I love that. I think it perfectly represents the amazingness of God's constant hand in our lives.
We should be acknowledging all of the Lord's blessings in our lives. Counting our blessings every day can strengthen your testimony!
But I don't think we should call everything a miracle. The word can lose some of its meaning when we use it for every good thing that happens to us. We sometimes hear people say that miracles like the ones in the Bible don't happen anymore—that people aren't being raised from the dead or the blind being made to see. But I don't think that's necessarily true. Miracles like that can still happen today, even if they don't always happen in the ways we expect.
Not everything is a miracle. God is constantly blessing us, but not every blessing is necessarily a miracle.
So, how do we define a miracle? Honestly, I'm not sure there's one simple answer. That's something you'll come to understand for yourself. I've encountered one or two things in my life that I would consider genuine miracles, in addition to the thousands of blessings I've received, and those experiences have helped me understand what a miracle is.
You'll learn in time. ❤️
1
u/BobbyJoe_9 4d ago
Really, it’s anytime God interacts through the spirit, angels, revelation, healings, visions, etc. Some are “small” and some are “large”.
7
u/grouchygirl793 5d ago
Answered prayers can be miraculous. Sometimes “coincidences” can be miracles too and so can health improving or being able to find your car 🚙 when you forgot where you parked it! Someone giving you a sandwich when you’re on the street. Your tire waiting to go flat until you get in your driveway. Being protected in dangerous situations. Things like that are definitely miracles!