The humor in humanity is our inconsistency. Any belief in or relationship with God is miraculous. Any belief in any part of the Bible is miraculous. However, People pick and choose what is believable. It might be easier to believe that Jesus fed over 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fishes and balk at Jonah being swallowed by a huge fish for 3 days. It might be easy to believe God answered a prayer while finding it impossible to believe something equally miraculous and mysterious. We often limit God to what we can or are willing to believe and understand instead of recognizing that He is bigger than we can understand or imagine. He is a big God, one that creates the universe and populates earth with people and all life.

All Christian churches believe in the gifts of the Spirit. I don’t know of any Christian church that will not pray for healing or revelation or help or some kind of interaction with God. All of those things are manifestations of God in our lives, miracles. They are gifts of the Spirit.

The problem seems to revolve around two things. 1. You cannot take the human out of the Christian. Humans get carried away or preoccupied or manifest themselves along with the gift God gives. 2. Tongues. They don’t have a problem praying for healing. But they have a great deal of trouble with the gift of tongues. Tongues seems to be the enemy of anybody who has a hard time with miraculous things that don’t make easy sense and use that to excuse not believing in the gifts of the Spirit. They seem to label all Pentecostal (churches which focus on the gifts of the Spirit, including tongues) experience by tongues.

How do you create a healthy environment for the Lord to do unusual things with usual people and still maintain some kind of order? It seems so complex because what seems good for one is way too much for another. People are frightened by those things beyond their control. We need order and discipline to survive and need to make room for God who is beyond our control. It is one of those mysteries that require faith. Faith is acceptance and trust beyond control. Faith says God loves us when we are unlovable and trustworthy when He operates beyond our boundaries and understanding.

Humans live in the uncomfortable world of being both physical and spiritual, able to control some areas and other areas beyond control. We, as individuals, fight the same battle as churches, making room for God while living a disciplined life. We have to make room for all we don’t understand while going forward with what we do understand. It is a conundrum. I can only suggest that prayer and Bible study helps.