Miracles, Providence and Faith

In college, a professor stressed that miracles did not occur - that what the Bible described as miracles were just expressions of naturally occurring events.  This was coupled with the believe that what people attributed to God was just something for which Science had yet to come up with an explanation.  This minimized the role of God in every day events, but also minimized the described power of God in situations.  Why would I believe in a powerful, invested, transcendent God if what set Him apart was no more than a natural phenomenon, yet to be explained, that did not involve His handiwork?  

Then there's Providence.  Contrary to what people try to say about George Washington, his belief in the hand of God in the formation of the nation and in every day life was strong.  Others would want to say that Providence had nothing to do with it.

This dynamic is captured well in Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.

. . . In the middle of all my labours it happened that, rummaging my things, I found a little bag, which as I hinted before, had been filled with corn for the feeding of poultry, not for this voyage, but before, as I suppose, when the ship came from Lisbon.  What little remainder of corn had been in the bad was all devoured with the rats, and I saw nothing in the bag but husks and dust; and being willing to have the bag for some other use (I think it was to put powder in, when I divided it for fear of the lightning, or some such use), I shook the husks of corn out of it on one side of my fortification under the rock.  

It was a little before the great rains just now mentioned that I threw this stuff away, taking no notice of anything, and not so much as remembering that I had thrown anything there; when, about a month after, or thereabout, I saw some few stalks of something green shooting out of the ground, which I fancied might be some plant I had not seen; but I was surprised and perfectly astonished when, after a little longer time, I saw about ten or twelve ears come out, which were perfect green barley, of the same kind as our European, nay, as our English barley.

It is impossible to express the astonishment and confusion of my thoughts on this occasion.  I had hitherto acted upon no religious foundation at all; indeed, I had very few notions of religion in my head, nor had entertained any sense of anything that had befallen me otherwise than as chance, or, as we lightly say, what pleases God; without so much as inquiring into the end of Providence in these things, or his order in governing events in the world.  But after I saw barley grow there, in a climate which I knew was not proper for corn, and especially that I knew not how it came there, it startled me strangely, and I began to suggest that God had miraculously caused this grain to grow without any help of seed sown, and that it was so directed purely for my sustenance on that wild miserable place.  

This touched my heart a little, and brought tears out of my eyes; and I began to bless myself that such a prodigy of nature should happen upon my account.  And this was the more strange to me, because I saw near it still all along by the side of the rock some other straggling stalks, which proved to be stalks of rice, and which I knew because I had seen it grow in Africa, when I was ashore there.  

I not only thought these the pure productions of Providence for my support, but not doubting but that there was more in the place, I went all over that part of the island where I had been before, peering in every corner and under every rock, to see for more of it; but I could not find any.  At last it occurred to my thoughts that I had shaken a bag of chickens' meat out in that place, and then the wonder began to cease; and I must confess my religious thankfulness to God's providence began to abate too upon the discovering that all this was nothing but what was common; though I ought to have been as thankful for so strange and unforeseen providence as if it had been miraculous: for it was really the work of Providence as to me, that should order or appoint that ten or twelve grains of corn should remain unspoiled (when the rats had destroyed all the rest), as if it had been dropped from heaven; as also that I should throw it out in that particular place, where, it begin in the shade of a high rock, it sprang up immediately; whereas, if I had thrown it anywhere else at that time, it had been burned up and destroyed.

I carefully saved the ears of this corn, you may be sure, in their season, which was about the end of June; and laying up every corn, I resolved to sow them all again, hoping in time to have some quantity sufficient to supply me with bread.  But was not till the fourth year that I could allow myself the least grain of this corn to eat, and even then but sparingly, as I shall say afterwards in its order; for I lost all that I sowed the first season by not observing the proper time; for I sowed it just before the dray season, so that it never came up at all, at lest not as it would have done--of which in its place.  

Besides this barley there was, as above, twenty or thirty stalks of rice, which I preserved with the same care, and whose use was of the same kind or to the same purpose--namely, to make me bread, or rather food; for I found ways to cook it up without baking, though I did that also after some time.  But to return to my journal.  

So is faith in Providence some psychological crutch or the opiate of the masses as Carl Marx would say about religion?  What about faith itself?  Is it some type of confirmation bias -- that we see in situations what we want to see?  Some might look at the following from Tim Tebow's autobiography, Through My Eyes, as just that. In Chapter 8, "Where to Go, Where to Go?," Tebow describes the difficulty he had in deciding whether to attend Alabama or attend University of Florida.  Notice the similarities to Robinson Crusoe and Providence and the element of faith.

Decision Day rolled around, and I still didn't know what I was going to do.  Earlier in the day, I had already called Coach Miles at LSU, Coach Carr at Michigan, and Coach Carroll at USC.  I told them I appreciated their time and interest but that I wouldn't be coming to their school that next year.  It was down to the final two.  I had been praying about it regularly, and my family was praying as well.  I had no doubt that the Lord was leading throughout this whole process, but what was unclear was determining where He was leading.  

People often seem to think that when you're following the Lord and trying to do His will, your path will always be clear, the decisions smooth and easy, and life will be lived happily ever after and all that.  Sometimes that may be true, but I've found that more often, it's not.  The muddled decisions still seem muddled, bad things can happen to believers, and great things can happen to nonbelievers.  When it comes to making our decisions, the key that God is concerned with is that we are trusting and seeking Him.  God's desire is for us to align that we are trusting and seeking Him.  God's desire is for us to align our lives with His Word and His will.  

But that's part of faith, what the writer of the book of Hebrews describes as a belief in things that we cannot see.  Still, it would have helped if He had yelled down from the heavens the direction He wanted me to take or had just written the answer with His fingertip in the clouds--I certainly would have been listening and watching.  

Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling any of that direction as the time approached.  No guidance, even though I knew I was being guided, and no peace, even though I knew He was there, offering it to me.  Postponing my decision wasn't going to help . . . 

Tebow then describes the continued agony he felt over the decision leading all the way up to the moment he made the decision.

So does God intervene in history or not?  Or does God perform miracles?  And is faith truly a crutch?

I have been reading William Ury's book, Getting to Yes with Yourself and Other Worthy Opponents.  The chapter on Reframing discusses the need to believe that Life or the Universe has good things in store in our suffering in order to be able to step back and observe situations we are in calmly and have peace.  What struck me is that Ury and those who have come to similar conclusions have found a way to imitate what the Bible gives as reason we can have peace and hope in difficult situations: that this momentary light affliction is producing in us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison; and that we know that God works all things together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.  But what also struck me is what I have noticed since I first heard actors state, "thank the Universe!" or ascribe other God-like qualities of being in control and providing for our needs to the Universe.  Ury does this to Life and to the Universe.

So did the Bible just take a naturally occurring possibility of trusting all things will work together for our good and apply God to it, or have others who have chosen not to ascribe those things to God, found a similar avenue to achieve the same thing?

Am I just the product of a naturalistic course of events where I am able to influence the course of my life but not completely; and where my ability to influence the larger course of things is limited?  There are way too many things that have to go right (or wrong) for one right thing to occur in someone's life.  The Earth, for example, is exactly situated, with exactly the right qualities, for life to exist on Earth.  If any number of those qualities are off kilter, the ability of Earth to sustain life is destroyed.  The human body is more complex than anything humans will ever create (yes, I used the word, "create") but even the most complex human creations only build on the complexity that already exists in the world.  And even though science continues to unravel the mysteries of the universe, it is limited to explaining what is and then applying that knowledge as tools for a larger purpose.

If miracles do not exist, life's meaning is limited to the here and now and what I can learn from my difficulties.  If miracles do not exist, explain Jesus rising from the dead or water turning into wine or a shriveled up hand being made whole, or people blind from birth seeing, or the lame being made able to walk, or . . . the list goes on.  But you might say, that's just fairy tale, or that's just what you believe.  Others might add, I'm fine with you believing that if it makes you happy, just don't impose your beliefs on other people!  Sure, belief in those things requires an assumption that those things are true to begin with or that the historicity of the Bible supports accurate reporting of events.  If miracles do not occur, well, they are not true or accurate . . . until you see things occur in your life or others' that cannot be explained by random chance or natural occurrence.  Some resort to explaining those things in terms of extraterrestrial life forms (aliens) or the hidden power of the mind.

Then there's providence.  Sure, Providence can be explained by chance . . . to a point, until you invest in the laws of probabilities.  Math can be friend or foe.

And faith.  Well, sure, things believed in faith can be attributed to natural mechanisms until you try to explain the source.

All that places the onus on the individual, only, to create/define quality of life by his or her thoughts or actions, and makes no room for the afterlife.  Live today for tomorrow we die.

But what if they are all worthy of consideration?  What if miracles and providence are true concepts?  What if demonstrating faith in a living God is not just something that makes people feel good in tough circumstances but is grounded on unseen or yet to be seen reality?  What if God wants to provide for us in the Today even though He allows and sometimes causes adversity?  What if faith is more an acknowledgement of who God is?  And what if what we experience now has potential for eternal rewards, not just temporal?

What I do know is that life is pretty dark without it.  I can follow the same thought processes as Crusoe, above, where I understand the mechanism that resulted in what I see before me and lose faith in the miraculous nature of the event.  But eventually, would I despair at discovering how little I could accurately control?  Or like Tebow, I could also trust that God is guiding even though I can't see Him working, and that all will work together for good because God loves me and wants what's best for me, regardless of what troubles I am experiencing here on Earth?  So I see value in Crusoe's further conclusion: that he had no way of knowing that his actions - for other reasons - would lead to his sustenance after years of careful stewardship and hard work.  Fate, as some would believe?  Or determinism but without an ultimate source?  How about Providence coupled with diligence and faithfulness?

The Bible talks about the peace that is beyond comprehension when I thank God for my adversity and take my prayer requests to Him, in relationship.  Maybe Ury's right and that same peace is possible without bringing God into the picture.  I don't doubt that what Ury describes allows people the peace of knowing that whatever occurs, some benefit can be derived from the situation, even if only in the form of learning, or that taking that perspective allows for taking responsibility for / over our responses / reactions to situations because we can seek to make the most of the situations with a spirit of gratitude for what we can learn.  In fact, I value that.  But I choose to ascribe purpose to at minimum the larger outcome of my circumstances due to a loving God seeking to work good from those situations, than ascribe personhood to the Universe or Life and limit my view to the temporal.

And I like what Ury says about approaching the difficulty with gratitude.  Whether Ury knows this or not, that is biblical: being thankful in all things, and even thanking God for difficulties and rejoicing when we experience trials because the testing of our faith produces endurance.  How does our faith get tested?  Our faith in a loving Father who wants what's best for us gets tested.  Our faith that God will provide in and through our difficulties for everything we need gets tested?  Our faith in the larger benefit of the trial in our lives gets tested.  Our faith resulting in the ability to wait for God to work good in our circumstances gets tested.

So is what Ury describes a form of faith?  I think so.  But faith in what?

It may, in the end, just come down to a decision regarding God and the human response to God if He is who He says He is.

As the Old Testament character of Joshua is quoted as saying, ". . . as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."