“I Believe in Miracles,” Liahona, Dec. 2023.
I Believe in Miracles
I believe God can and will intervene in our lives for our good today, just as the Savior did for others throughout His mortal ministry. I believe He does it every day.
Photograph of hand from Christus statue by Shannon Leanne Law
Sometimes miracles are dramatic. But usually they aren’t.
While on assignment for the Church magazines in Taiwan, I was traveling with an interpreter and a driver. Though I still had hours of work to do, my interpreter needed to leave me alone with the driver, who didn’t speak any English. There was no way I could finish my work without being able to communicate with the driver. As they discussed options, my interpreter began to laugh. He explained that the driver spoke Spanish, which he knew I had learned on my mission. The driver and I had a great time together, and I finished my work without any problem.
This was no dramatic healing or moving of a mountain. But it was divine intervention that my driver was one of the relatively few people in Taiwan who spoke Spanish.
We Need Miracles
I believe we need miracles daily or we do not progress on our return journey to God. When Nephi’s family “had faith to believe that God could cause that [the Liahona] should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day” (Alma 37:40).
Our faith precedes the miracle, but the miracle can confirm our faith, help it grow, and move us along the path.1
We Are Surrounded by Miracles—If We’ll Look
I believe that miracles come in all shapes and sizes, from the dramatic to that which is easily explained away as coincidence. I believe the Lord would bless us with them more often if we would look for them, recognize them, and acknowledge them with gratitude.2
I believe that looking for miracles is different than seeking for signs. Looking for miracles implies faith, or at least hope; seeking for signs implies skepticism. A believer and a skeptic can witness the same miracle, but only one of them will recognize it for what it is (see Doctrine and Covenants 63:7). Skepticism cannot produce miracles, whereas the Savior said that miracles and “signs shall follow them that believe” (Mark 16:17; Mormon 9:24; Ether 4:18; Doctrine and Covenants 84:65; see also Doctrine and Covenants 58:64; 63:9; 68:10; 124:98).
Recognizing Miracles
Miracles come in many forms. The Savior said:
“These signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
“They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mark 16:17–18).
And then He includes a miracle we often overlook: “Whosoever shall believe in my name, doubting nothing, unto him will I confirm all my words” (Mormon 9:25). I believe that a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ is a miracle—a miracle each of us can have if we choose to believe and to live His words (see John 7:17; Doctrine and Covenants 84:44).
Where Is My Miracle?
There are many who have experienced trials and tragedy, and when they sought divine intervention, there was none. These might ask, “Where was my miracle?”
Some miracles we never see. Others pass by unrecognized because we were expecting something different.3
But in the end, whether or not we received the miracle we sought, each of us has claim on the greatest miracle of all—the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which promises that we can have again loved ones lost; that burdens can be lifted and comfort found; and that our Savior not only intimately knows our every pain, sorrow, and suffering but also knows how to help us get through them.4
Choose to Believe
“Has the day of miracles ceased?… Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief” (Moroni 7:35, 37).
May we choose to believe. And then may we live gratefully for the miracles that will follow.