Why Don't We Expect Miracles to Happen to Us?
You get a phone call from a friend you haven’t seen in a while. He’s ecstatic, breathless as he tells you, “You won’t believe what happened to me since we last talked — I was miraculously healed of my migraines! I asked God to take it away and since then I haven’t had a headache in months!!”
Be honest — what’s your first reaction? Skepticism? Joy? A mix of both?
Would your answer change if you had also been praying for this miracle? Would you have expected it to happen? Or would you have been shocked that the prayer was answered? We often pray for God to do the miraculous, yet seem to doubt that it will actually happen to us. That tension is what we’re exploring. Should you expect miracles? Why don’t we expect miracles to happen to us?
Laying the Groundwork
My gut response to this question is to say, “If it’s something expected is it really a miracle? Isn’t the miraculous something that defies expectation?” That is why it is important for us to define terms.
What Is a Miracle?
With only :02 left, the rookie quarterback heaves a long pass to his wide receiver. The receiver makes contact with one finger, popping the ball into the air, bobbles it one more time, and then secures it as he falls to the ground in the end zone. The announcers shout, “It’s a miracle!!!”
Or take a real example. It’s 1980. Nobody beats the Russians at hockey. A young American squad delivers a performance for the ages, defeating the Soviets 4-3. It’s known as the Miracle on Ice. Nobody expected the US to win; it seemed impossible. But they did. So, we call it a miracle.
Surprisingly, the word miracle doesn’t really appear in the Bible — at least not much. If you are using a KJV you’ll find it in Mark 6:52 and John 2:11. Most modern translations prefer “signs” or “wonders” instead. But even if the word isn’t used, there are clearly stories throughout the Scriptures where the unexpected happens, where things not explicable by nature or scientific law take place. There are events that we’d use the word “miracle” to describe.
Theologian Wayne Grudem defines a miracle as "a less common kind of God's activity in which he arouses people's awe and wonder and bears witness to Himself.” If Grudem is correct that it is a “less common” way of God’s activity, should we expect miracles? That all depends on what you mean by expectation.
What Is Expectation?
If we “expect” miracles the way we expect the sun to rise, we are misunderstanding miracles. By definition a miracle is something extraordinary. On the other hand, we may also speak of “expectation” as a kind of openness to God’s power. It’s not presuming upon God but rather a posture of trust — believing that God usually shows up.
Think here of Elijah at Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:36-38). Fire from heaven at our request is miraculous, but Elijah expected God to show up. The woman who had an issue of blood (Mark 5:25-34) didn’t demand healing, but had an expectation that if she could just touch Jesus’ garment she’d be healed. That’s the kind of expectation for God’s activity that we’re talking about here. Do we expect that? Do we anticipate God will show up? If not, why not?
Why Do We Struggle to Expect Miracles?
I think if we’re honest, many of us pray for God to do miraculous things, but we like to hedge our bets and add disclaimers. In one sense, that’s right and proper. We ought to have a posture where we defer to His sovereignty. We approach God knowing and understanding that He knows best. We don’t approach Him as if He were a genie or a divine butler responding to our beck and call.
Yet, there is a way in which my children expect me to respond to their needs. They know that I love them and they reasonably anticipate that I’m going to show up for them. I think we ought to have that same kind of expectation of the Fatherly care of God. Even if it means that our “help” requires something extraordinary.
But we don’t tend to think this way anymore when it comes to God doing extraordinary things on our behalf. For one, we live in an age of skepticism. Modern culture often dismisses the supernatural, giving deference to science and reason. This is the water we swim in. Add to this real experiences of hurt and disappointment and you’ve got a recipe for distrust. Throw into the mixture a few news stories of charlatan preachers claiming “healings” and it’s understandable that our gut reaction is a bit of skepticism when our friend says, “I was healed of my migraine!”
We also tend to view miracles as something for another age. And it really might be so. There are good arguments for having caution when it comes to expecting the miraculous in a place where the gospel is already named. What I mean is that they are often called signs and wonders for a reason. There is probably a reason why God isn’t splitting the Mississippi River in two and encouraging people from Missouri to escape the clutches of Illinois.
God has definitively spoken to us by His Son. And we know that message through His Word. Which means we don’t need a sea to part these days to understand the character of God. God tends to speak differently in areas where the gospel is already understood. For that reason, we perhaps should expect less extraordinary. We might do better to expect God to show up these days through the ordinary means He has given us.
I think it is better to change what we are expecting. I prefer to say something like, “I expect God to show Himself as good and mighty and loving, and if that requires an extraordinary action, He’ll do that!” But mostly I should expect God to “show up” and show His character through ordinary means.
See Him in the Ordinary
Maybe the real issue isn’t whether miracles still happen, but rather do we recognize the activity of God when He does show Himself. If we’re only looking for “big” miracles, like the parting of the Red Sea, we will miss daily ways God is revealing His power and presence. In some ways the very fact that we can pray and communicate with the Creator of the Universe is a miracle in itself. Prayer itself is a miracle.
Maybe the better question isn’t, “Should I expect a miracle?” but rather, “Do I expect God to show up in my life?” If you truly believe that He is good and mighty and loving, then you’re going to trust that God is at work in your life. Most of the time that will look quite ordinary. But there are moments when we’re in desperate need for something a bit out of the ordinary — miraculous even — and we ought to expect God to manifest Himself in these ways too.
What you’ll find is that as you commune with God and see Him working in a million ways through the ordinary, you won’t have any problem expecting Him to show up if the miraculous is required. But if you aren’t experiencing and rejoicing in His daily, often ordinary, provisions then you won’t have the muscles built up to expect the extraordinary when needed.
Why don’t we expect miracles to happen to us? To put it simply, because we haven’t had the eyes to see Him in the ordinary.
Related articles
When it Comes to Miracles, God Does it His Way
How to Pray for a Miracle
Who Is a Candidate to Receive a Miracle from God?
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/emiliozv
Mike Leake is husband to Nikki and father to Isaiah and Hannah. He is also the lead pastor at Calvary of Neosho, MO. Mike is the author of Torn to Heal and Jesus Is All You Need. His writing home is http://mikeleake.net and you can connect with him on Twitter @mikeleake. Mike has a new writing project at Proverbs4Today.
Originally published February 10, 2025.
