Got Miracles? By Jordyn Redwood

Do you think much about miracles? I do. I don’t know why, but I do. I’ve witnessed a few medical miracles during my nursing career. Once, it looked like a co-worker’s son had leukemia, but when they went for final testing before starting chemotherapy everything was normal. A young boy I cared for in the Pediatric ICU made a full recovery—walking, talking, playing—when none of us thought he was going to survive his injuries.

Twenty-five years ago, when it was time for me to take my nursing boards, I had a miracle happen to me. I’m not usually a good sleeper before big events like this. As in—tossing and turning through the whole night watching the numbers on the clock slowly progress toward morning.

The nights before my test, I slept like a baby. It was truly remarkable to me.

Perhaps a year or more after this, I was telling one of my best friend’s from high school, who was a passionate Christian, about how well I’d slept before the test and how strange that was for me.

“I’d prayed that very thing for you—to get the best sleep of your life before that test.”

I was dumbfounded. As you read this story, you might be thinking—No. Big. Deal.

Do miracles need to be something big and profound? Or do they just need to be something meaningful for you?

I read a book that changed my whole thinking about miracles—about what they are and what they mean. It’s called Miracles and is written by Eric Metaxas.

In the book, he gives his thoughts on miracles and his assertion is that miracles are God’s way of communicating with us—to show us his presence and provision in our lives. In essence, to prove His existence. What might be a miracle for me might not impress you very much but it’s importance boils down to the interaction between that person and God.

Many people I come across believe in evolution—that this large, blue marble we inhabit came about by happenstance.

Science would like us to believe that life is not rare. That it’s common. Ordinary. That somewhere else in this universe is a place we could happily habitat if we could just find it. All that is needed is a planet about our size situated about as far as Earth is from the sun. And surely in our vast universe there is a planet like that that will support life.

What Metaxas argues in his book is that the more science discovers about life on Earth, the more statistically impossible it seems that we could live anywhere else. That even life on earth is statistically improbable.

That life on Earth is, in fact, miraculous.

I’d like to highlight here a few of the items Eric mentions in his book to demonstrate the point. My hope is that you are as awe inspired as I was and that perhaps you would look more closely at the evidence of God’s existence in every living thing around us and check out Eric's book for more details.

The size of Earth. If Earth were larger it would have more gravity. This increase in gravity would bring two poisonous gases, methane and ammonia, closer to the surface. Last I checked, we’ll die if we breathe either of those. What if Earth was smaller? Have less gravity? Water would then dissipate into the atmosphere. We absolutely need water to support life. We’re mostly made of water. No human raisins are alive.

The unique properties of water. Water, as it solidifies, get lighter. This isn’t true of other liquids when they solidify. Why is it important to us? If water were heavier in its solid state, it wouldn’t float. Lakes would freeze from the bottom up—killing everything.

How fast our planet rotates. If it rotated more slowly giving us longer days, the temperature swings between night and day would be more dramatic and deadly. Too cold at night. Too hot in the day. Shorter days from the earth spinning more quickly? Every day is a windy day—like hurricane windy—all the time.

Ever think much about Jupiter? That impossibly large planet with its one glaring red eye? It’s a shield for earth. Eric states without Jupiter, comets and comet debris would strike us about a thousand times (emphasis his) more frequently.

The moon. The moon’s gravity gives us tides. If the moon were larger, tides would be so large that coastal cities wouldn’t exist. Any smaller, the tides would be insignificant to “cleanse costal seawater and replenish its nutrients.” The moon is the perfect size. The moon also influences the Earth’s tilt that gives us our seasons.

In 2001, there were approximately one-hundred and fifty characteristics science felt were needed to support life on Earth.

For me, as a medical nerd, that’s miraculous. The question then becomes—what is the force behind this that put all these conditions into place?

What about you? Have you witnessed a miracle in your life? If so, I’d love for you to share it with us. If not, what is something that you marvel about in God’s creation?

********************************************************************

Jordyn Redwood is a nursing supervisor by night, suspense novelist by day. She hosts Redwood’s Medical Edge, a blog devoted to helping authors write medically accurate fiction. Her first two medical thrillers, Proof and Poison, garnered starred reviews from Library Journal. Proof was shortlisted for the 2012 ForeWord Review’s BOTY Award, 2013 INSPY Award and the 2013 Carol Award. Poison shortlisted for the 2014 INSPY Award and the 2014 Selah Award. Her novel, Taken Hostage, won the 2018 Stiletto Award in published romantic suspense. In addition to her novels, she blogs regularly at Redwood’s Medical Edge and the Love Inspired blog. You can connect with Jordyn via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, her website and via e-mail at jordyn@jordynredwood.com.