Ordinary Miracles

Read Joshua 10:1–15.

“So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies” (Joshua 10:13).

As Joshua and his men raced into battle to defend Gibeon against attack, God told him, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you” (Joshua 10:8). Joshua apparently took the Lord at His word, because later, when daylight started to slip away and he feared his enemies might do the same, he asked God for something out of this world. Joshua prayed that the sun would stand still in the sky. And God obliged.

For many people investigating the claims of the Bible, this miracle is a stumbling block. Common sense tells us that the sun cannot pause in the sky. For that to happen, the earth would have to stop spinning on its axis temporarily—and scientists tell us the consequences of such an event would be disastrous. But with God, nothing is impossible (Matthew 19:26).

The Bible doesn’t tell us how God caused the sun to stop that afternoon, only that it did. And it shouldn’t really matter to us how it happened. For believers, there really is no line between the natural and the supernatural. Christians believe that God upholds the universe every day and the so called “laws of nature” are only laws because of His decree. He can suspend them anytime He likes. Thinking about things that way, every sunrise is a miracle, and every miracle is part of an average day in God’s economy. What’s remarkable about Joshua’s story is not that the sun stood still, but that he had the faith to ask God to make it happen.

“Miracle is, from the point of view of the scientist, a form of doctoring, tampering, (if you like) cheating.”

C. S. Lewis

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