5月30日
标 题：不需要求神迹的信心
经 节：“一个邪恶淫乱的世代求神迹，除了约拿的神迹以外，再没有神迹给他看。”耶稣就离开他们去了。（马太福音十六章4节）
要求神行神迹可能代表你缺乏信心。有些人以为自己得不断求神迹，来显示自己的信心。他们臆测，任何时候神都要作出惊人壮观的事。他们认为，神要医治每一个病人，并且提供超自然的奇迹，让我们脱离每个困境。耶稣责备那些硬要祂行神迹的人，因为祂清楚了解他们的心。祂认清那些人若无神迹奇事一直支持他们的信心，他们就没办法相信祂。他们的信心太小，以至于没有常见到神迹就开始怀疑。
有时候，我们喜欢神迹甚于那位行神迹者。神称这种心态是拜偶像。祂反对这种想法，拒绝应他们的要求行神迹（耶利米书二：11～13）。有时候，最伟大的信心行动并不是求神迹。旧约其中一段最感人的信心诠述，是沙得拉、米煞、亚伯尼歌，他们为了顺服神，将被推入大火熊熊燃烧的火窑中，但他们毫无所惧地对尼布甲尼撒王说：“即便如此，我们所事奉的神能将我们从烈火的窑中救出来。王啊！祂也必救我们脱离你的手；即或不然，王啊！你当知道我们决不事奉你的神，也不敬拜你所立的金像。”（但以理书三：17～18）他们对神拯救他们的能力有信心，他们全然相信祂，以至于一点也没有求神免除他们的危难。
你需要神迹来维系你的信心吗？或者，你全然地信任神，你能说：“倘若不成，我仍相信神！”
Faith That Doesn’t Ask
“A wicked and adulterous generation seeks
after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet
Jonah.” And He left them and departed. (Matthew 16:4)
Asking God for a miracle may indicate a lack of
faith. Some feel that they demonstrate great faith by continually asking God
for miracles. They assume that in every situation God wants to do the
spectacular. They presume, for example, that God wants to heal anyone who is
sick or provide a miraculous escape from every difficulty they face. Jesus
condemned those who insisted that He perform miracles, because He knew their
hearts. He recognized that they could not believe Him without constantly
undergirding their faith with signs. Their faith was not strong enough to
survive without a regular supply of the miraculous. Jesus condemned this lack
of faith and_ left them.
There are times when we prefer the miracle over the
miracle worker. God calls this idolatry, and He discouraged it by refusing to
provide miracles on demand (Jer. 2:11–13). Sometimes the greatest act of faith
is not to ask for a miracle. One of the most amazing statements of faith in the
Old Testament came from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as they faced the fiery
furnace because of their obedience to God. They expressed true faith when they
assured king Nebuchadnezzar: “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from
the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But
if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor
will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (Dan. 3:17–18). They were
confident in God’s ability to deliver them, but they trusted Him so completely
that they did not ask to be spared.
Does your faith need miracles to sustain it? Or do
you trust God so totally that you can say, “But if not, I will still trust the
Lord!”?
