Does God Still Do Miracles Today?

Yes. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8 NLT). What He did in the Bible, He still does today.

I don't just believe that because I read it. I've seen it. On mission trips, I watched people get healed on the streets of Los Angeles. I saw a man in Haiti check himself out of the hospital, completely well, moments after we prayed. I saw someone healed of AIDS, and a doctor later confirmed it. A while back, a woman in our church asked me to pray for her dad. He had COVID and was on a ventilator, and they didn't know if he'd make it. I prayed with him for a few minutes, along with a lot of other people praying. A few weeks later, I met him after church, healthy and doing great.

"So why doesn't God heal everybody?" I wish I could tell you. We prayed for my father-in-law to be healed, and he wasn't. He passed away. I don't understand all the reasons why things happen. But that didn't stop me from praying for the next person. (If this is where you are right now, read "Why doesn't God stop my suffering?")

So why doesn't God heal everyone?

I don't have a complete answer, and I don't trust anyone who says they do. Here's what I do know.

Just because God can doesn't mean He always will. When God doesn't do what we hoped, it feels like we have two bad options: give up on miracles, or get bitter because God didn't do one for us. I don't think either one is right.

It's not because you didn't have enough faith. In Acts 12, King Herod killed James and arrested Peter. The church prayed, and an angel walked Peter out of prison. James didn't get a rescue. Did James lack faith? Hebrews 11 honors people who "escaped the edge of the sword" and, a few verses later, people who "were killed with the sword," and says all of them were commended for their faith (Hebrews 11:34, 37, 39 ESV). Even Paul, who saw incredible miracles, wrote, "I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus" (2 Timothy 4:20 ESV).

Faith still matters. In His hometown, Jesus "couldn't do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them" (Mark 6:5 NLT). Not because their unbelief overpowered Him, but because God, by His own design, moves through faith and relationship. He's not weak in the face of unbelief. He's just unwilling to force His goodness on a heart that won't receive it. So we keep asking, and we keep believing.

God has the last word. This world is still broken, and every healing this side of heaven is temporary. But one day, "death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore" (Revelation 21:4 ESV). For a follower of Jesus, a loss today isn't a loss forever.

Didn't miracles stop with the apostles?

Some sincere Christians believe that. The idea is that miracles were for launching the church and confirming the apostles, and once the Bible was complete, they stopped. I understand why people land there, especially after seeing some of the weird things done on TV in God's name. But I don't see it in Scripture.

On the day the church was born, Peter quoted Joel: "In the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh" (Acts 2:17 ESV). We're still in the last days. Paul says the gifts of the Spirit, including healing and miracles, are given "for the common good" of the church (1 Corinthians 12:7–10 ESV), and nowhere does he put an expiration date on them. When he says these gifts will one day pass away, he says it happens when "the perfect comes" and we see God "face to face" (1 Corinthians 13:10, 12 ESV). That hasn't happened yet.

The God of the Bible isn't a retired God. He's the same yesterday, today and forever.

How do I know if a miracle is real?

Jesus warned that "false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders" (Matthew 24:24 ESV), so it's wise to test what you see. A few questions help:

1. Does it point to Jesus? Real miracles make much of Him, not of the person praying. "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God" (1 John 4:1 ESV).

2. Does it line up with Scripture? God confirms His Word (Mark 16:20). He doesn't contradict it.

3. Is anyone selling it? "You received without paying; give without pay" (Matthew 10:8 ESV). If healing comes with a price tag, run.

4. Can it be checked? God isn't afraid of a doctor. When that person was healed of AIDS, a doctor confirmed it. Jesus told a healed man to go show himself to the priest (Luke 5:14).

If you want to see more of what God is doing

Here's something I've noticed: a lot of us believe God does miracles, we just never see one. We read about a God who splits seas and feeds 5,000 people, and then we go to work, come home, watch Netflix, scroll and do it all over again. There's a gap between what we believe and what we live. And I think part of the reason is that the difference between a miracle and the mundane is often found in the smallest moments. Here's what I mean:

1. Learn to listen. For a lot of us, prayer is a 30-second blessing before dinner. Megan's pawpaw used to pray, "Good Lord, good food, good people, let's eat." I love that prayer, but many of us stop there. Our prayers look more like a grocery list tossed up to heaven than a conversation. "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV) means talking with God all day long.

2. Don't be so busy you're blind. In a famous study, seminary students were asked to give a talk on the Good Samaritan. On the way, they passed a man slumped in a doorway, clearly in distress. Students who'd been told they were late stopped to help only 10% of the time. Students who had extra time stopped 63% of the time. Maybe we don't see divine interventions because we're too busy for divine interruptions.

3. Get closer to people than your comfort allows. So many miracles in the Gospels happened when Jesus walked into someone's house or reached out and touched them.

4. Give what you have. A life group from our church once felt prompted to write their waiter a note: "You have a future, don't give up." He came back with tears in his eyes and told them how badly he needed to hear that. God had seated them in his section on purpose.

So yes, God still does miracles. Go into today expecting Him to.