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Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
Luke 7:11‭-‬17 ESV

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When the crowds see this miracle happen, they have a literal come-to-Jesus moment. It’s no small reaction, it’s not without fear, it’s not without worship, and it’s not without a realization of yet-undiscovered truth. It says, “Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has arisen among us!’ and ‘God has visited his people!’” My first reaction to the word “prophet” was to think that they unfortunately missed that Jesus was the Son of God, but after reading it a few more times, it amazes me that they were able to pull as much truth as they did out of this one miracle Jesus worked before their eyes.

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I see things that are miraculous. Maybe not reanimated corpses very often, but I daily see things and hear stories that I could only explain within the reality of a loving, acting God. I hope I’m squeezing every drop of truth out of those moments like this crowd did. I hope I don’t miss that chance to tremble before God for his authority over every molecule in the universe. I hope I worship him in those moments, and not chance, or another person, or myself.

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Lord Jesus, you are powerful. You have revealed to me some of your power in this life, and I’m sure you’ll continue to reveal more. I don’t want to miss the miracles you perform before my eyes or consider them only coincidence, or luck, or resilience of the human spirit. I want to give worship only where worship is due. Help me exegete the maximum amount of truth about you from every moment in my life. I’m astonished by the things you’ve led me through, and I trust you more than ever because of how you have guided me.

This post is part of my Weekly REAP series. I’m posting these from my personal journal to share what God is teaching me, and to give some practical examples of the REAP method.  I didn’t write any of these with publishing in mind, so forgive me if they don’t always wax eloquent. Here is some more information on the REAP study method.