and then Lazarus said, "Here we go again..."

Lewis talks about Lazarus getting a raw deal today in A Year with C.S. Lewis.

And it's true, isn't it? I mean, there were lots of people raised from the dead during Jesus's time. The widow of Nain's son. Lots of holy people came back to life when Jesus died on the cross (Matt. 27:52) And that's just the ones we KNOW about. Jesus spent a great deal of time healing people and raising them from the dead. And for what? They all just got sick and died again. What was the point?

Well, that brings up a really good point. What WAS the point of all those miracles? What is the point of miracles today? Why does God sometimes heal people miraculously? Why doesn't He always do that? Why do our loved ones die?

God performs these miracles, both during Jesus's time and today, so that we might have faith in Him. At the time of Jesus, He went around performing miracles so that people would listen to Him, and would realize Who He was, so they would put their faith in Him and be saved from their sins and from hell. And they passed those stories down to us so that we also might have faith in Him.

Which is the same reason that He performs miracles today. So that we trust Him. So we believe in Him. So we're not afraid when our time comes to meet Him. It's His desire that ALL men be saved. (1 Timothy 2:4)

We will all face the dark spectre of death one day. But thanks be to God, He has given us these gifts of miracles so that we can trust Him to bring us to everlasting life with Him after we die. And unlike Lazarus, we only have to die one time.

Thanks, God, for giving us reasons to trust in You. Help us trust You more.