The Priorities of God: Ordinary Preferred Over Extraordinary

Miracles can be defined as extraordinary manifestations of God's covenant lordship (See Frame, The Doctrine of God).  While every word in the definition is important, the word extraordinary stands out to most as that which, in our day, is either highly coveted or strongly doubted.  Those who believe in God, along with those who desire to see proof of His existence, often look to the miraculous as the final linch-pin of certainty - the convincing straw that breaks their unbelieving back.  For those who actively desire to disprove God's existence, they deny any possibility of miracle, presupposing from the outset an ordinary explanation for the extraordinary.

At first glance, the desires of both camps are pretty reasonable.  Believers should want to see more miracles; and, unbelievers should want to see none.  We shouldn't, however, be so quick to agree with either.  I propose that things should be just the opposite.  Consider two brief thoughts.

First, if unbelievers were consistent with their presuppositions, they should desire the extraordinary. The reasoning is simple.  If the universe is random and if all of life and matter was brought about by chance, then it seems to me that ordinary events would be more miraculous than extraordinary ones. If it is ordinary for life to appear randomly and by chance out of nowhere, I see no reason why it would be extraordinary for a BMW to magically appear in my driveway - given enough time of course. Simply put, the unbeliever would find more evidence for his worldview in a highly extraordinary world - in a world where random things happened all of the time, without particular explanation, and without any known purpose.  But, as it presently stands, the ordinary is the saw the unbeliever uses to cut off the branch upon which he sits.

Second, while God has used the extraordinary in glorious and redemptive ways, His priority is to use the extraordinary to prepare for the ordinary.  This is perhaps the most significant point I learned from Frame's discussion on the topic of Miracle.  He writes, "We often value spectacular experience over day-to-day routine.  But God's priorities are different."  In Genesis we see that the extraordinary flood is followed by the covenant of preservation where God promises ordinary and regular seasons (Gen 8:22).  During the wilderness years, Israel was fed in an a miraculous way; but, their goal was to finally be in the land of Promise where normal harvests were the fulfillment of God's promise.  And finally, Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, tells them that the miracles of tongues and prophesy are far less important than ordinary love - for, love is that which remains.

Miracles are important, and are one way that the Lord manifests (and has manifested) His covenant faithfulness and lordship.  It is the testimony of both Scripture and natural revelation that the ordinary is a glorious spectacle of His power, grace, and redemption.  The believer and the unbeliever alike should stand in awe of the ordinary, for it is Jesus Christ Himself who holds it all together.