Dorcas Restored to Life

Scripture Reading: Acts 9:32-43, Psalm 36:9, Mark 5:21-43

Miracles are beautiful. I still remember the first one I experienced: My fourth grade class’s guinea pig gave birth prematurely and against all odds, one little baby lived. She was the size of a jelly bean, but we were in awe, and our class agreed to name her Miracle Faith. Her little life drew us closer together.

Maybe you’ve also longed for a miracle, and—dare I say—one of greater significance than a class pet. We’ve all ached for healing in one way or another. Like the widows who loved Dorcas, we may long to see a dark situation transformed by the light. Like Aeneas who endured years of long-suffering, we may feel forgotten and disappointed. The miracle has not come and yet we remain, hurt and confused, thinking, “What do we do with this?”

In our hurt and confusion, we can forget that there is more at stake than the outcome we are praying for.

We serve a God who uses miracles to heal not only our bodies but also our souls, and the souls of those connected to us. Aeneas, Dorcas, and their communities were not just witnesses of physical miracles; they were witnesses of Jesus’s saving power. When Aeneas heard “Jesus Christ heals you” and made his bed, his body was healed and all of Lydda and Sharon surrendered their lives to the Lord in response (Acts 9:34–35). Through Dorcas’s miracle, she was restored to life and many people in Joppa believed in God (v.42). In the Gospel of Mark, the bleeding woman’s physical affliction ceased and she received a new identity in Christ after years of living alone, unclean and shunned (Mark 5:34).

It can be tempting to believe we are alone in our suffering as we wait, longing for a miracle. Our timing, our knowledge, and our plans are certainly not the Lord’s, and it won’t always make sense to us. But we can know this: Our longing is not ultimately for the miracle. It’s for the one the miracle points to—Jesus, the wellspring of life and the light of the world (Psalm 36:9).

These miracles in these stories point to the living God who delights in making us spiritually alive and restored for eternity. Whether or not the miracle we pray for comes, may we recognize the miracle that has already changed our lives forever—the salvation of our soul. In Christ, we too have received what we were most longing for.

Written by Lauren Cox