Where are the miracles?

The bible is full of stories of miracles of every kind.  Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons and raised people from the dead.  In the Book of Acts we see many of the same miraculous examples performed by the Apostles.  Those critical of the supernatural are quick to point to powerless Christians of today as proof that these are nothing more than wild fables.  Even some Christians because of their lack of belief will claim this all stopped with the apostolic age.  They will make accusations that if Christians had the gift of healing today they would go clean out the sick at the local hospitals.  So what is the truth behind all of this?

There are many things to consider other than simply unbelief however.  In Acts chapter three we see a story of a man who was born lame and he was brought daily to the gate Beautiful to beg for alms.  Jesus went to the temple many times and likely walked past this man.  So why did Jesus not heal him?  Some time later when Peter and John walked by him they took him by the hand and he was miraculously healed.  Apparently the issue here was timing and God wanted to use this miracle to validate the ministry of the Apostles.

Because Apostle Paul was used in some cases to heal, it is believed by some, that he was in control of this gift of healing and could heal people at will.  This is obviously not the cause however because we can read that he left Trophimus sick at Miletus (2 Tim. 4:20).  We can also read where one of Paul's companions by the name of Epaphroditus was sick "to the point of death" and Paul writes "he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me"(Phil. 2:26-30).  So apparently this guy simply over extended himself and suffered the consequences.  People can end up sick for many reasons and God may or may not want to heal them.  If we continue to walk in unrepentant sin and unbelief we cannot expect God to bend over backward for us.  The scripture is very clear on this.

But your iniquities have made a separation between you
 and your God,  and your sins have hidden His face
 from you, so that He does not hear.

Isaiah 59:2

The reality is we live in a fallen world and the rain falls on the just and the unjust.  Even when we are trying to do good we at times can be slapped by the spillover affect of sin.  When a dentist is working on a patient that has AIDS he must be very careful not to get stuck by the infected needle he has used on his patient.  When we hang out with sinners there is more of a chance we could be nailed with the same judgment do to them.  If one wants to live in Sodom when God says he is about to destroy the whole city, well, you are on your own.