Once upon a time, when I was many years younger and many pounds lighter, I had some talent for track and loved the sport. One of my minor heroes in life has been an Englishman named Roger Bannister. When Roger was young, he was severely burned in a fire. Doctors told his parents that he would probably never walk again. Not only did he walk but he also began to run. Not only did he run, but also he became a world-class runner in college. Bannister competed during an era when running a mile in under four-minutes was a dream that seemed impossible. In fact, doctors and scientists believed that the human body was not capable of such speed over that distance and believed that anyone who actually broke the mark would suffer irreparable damage to his body. Fortunately, Bannister did not “follow the science” in the matter.
On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister did what most believed was impossible. He ran the mile in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. Within three years, sixteen other individuals had broken the four-minute barrier. So what happened? Did mankind suddenly make a spontaneous, evolutionary jump? No, a change in perception made the difference. When one man broke the barrier, others suddenly believed that they could do so as well. Through the centuries, psychological barriers have proven to be more formidable that physical barriers.
Jesus said, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mk. 11:2-24).
Often, we believe that great changes are made when large numbers of people begin to act or think in certain ways. But every movement has been given impetus by one person who did what others believed they could not do. God is looking for those individuals, men and women, who will step out and do what others have believed to be impossible. When they do, other believers will follow.
There have been seasons in the church when miracles were the norm. Certainly in the first century church, the gifts of the Spirit propelled the church into great seasons of revival. Some of the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12-14 were, of course, prophecy, healings, miracles, tongues, interpretation of tongues, words of knowledge, etc. On top of that, dreams and visions seem to have been standard fare in the church.
There have been others seasons when God healed in amazing sways through revivalists in the 1800’s and 1900’s in England and America. Each time a season of the miraculous sprang up, atheists and agnostics along with “educated and dignified” believers were quick to write off such happenings as foolishness, superstition, and emotionalism. The Pharisees in the first century did the same and even went as far as to credit the devil with the miracles, instead of God.
Over the last 300 years, the American and European church has, for the most part, denied the miraculous intervention of God and called those who claimed to heal and prophecy frauds and con men.
However, In the past 50 years, a new generation of believers has embraced the supernatural once again and claims healings, prophecies, tongues, miracles, dreams, visions, and even the raising of the dead. Of course, orthodox believers and intellectuals in the church still deny the reality of such things other than as a deception from the enemy.
But, I am convinced that in the heart of every believer is a secret longing to see God do now what he did throughout the scriptures. We long to see the glory of God demonstrated in the power of the Holy Spirit. Many believers long to see it, but are afraid to believe because the paragons of their faith have told them that God no longer works in those ways.
I believe God wants an army of spiritual Roger Bannisters who will believe that God is the same today as he has always been and, as he was always willing to display his power on behalf of his people, he still is. I know that in many churches, if just one they knew were too break the miracle barrier, others would believe it possible and soon would break the barrier with him or her
Of course, there is risk in standing up for the supernatural move of God. You might be distrusted. You might be ridiculed. You might be strongly encouraged not to “mislead the faithful” with such ideas. On the other hand, you might just break the four minute barrier and open the door to an amazing move of God in your own circle of influence.
For those of us who want to believe God for miracles, the challenge is typically not whether we believe he can do such things, but that he will. I met a man a couple of years ago that had moved away to become part of a church where a great number of miracles were reported on a regular basis. After being there a year or two, he moved back to our area. I asked him how the experience had changed him. He said the real change for him was that he now expected God to move in miraculous ways, rather than just hoping he would.
If we need that transformation in our own lives, we don’t have to move away but we may need to take some trips to actually see men and women “breaking the four minute mile” so that our own barriers of unbelief can be shattered.
In the track world, a four minute mile is no longer considered impossible, but is simply a measure of any “decent runner.” Wouldn’t it be amazing, if the church no longer considered the miraculous move of God to be impossible, but simply considered it to the the measure of any “decent church?”
The story of David illustrates the principle. As y of course, ou recall, Israel and Philistia had gone to war. Each army encamped along the hillsides on either side of a valley. Each day, a nine foot “giant” named Goliath would come out to challenge the army of Israel calling for someone to step out and face him man to man. Every day for forty days, Goliath issued the challenge. Not one man would take him up on his dare. Clearly, the entire army of Israel believed that defeating Goliath was impossible.
Then one afternoon, David was sent by his father Jessie to check on his brothers and to see how the battle was going. David witnessed Goliath’s taunts and offered to face the giant himself. He offered because he believed that God makes all things possible. Although the experienced soldiers in the army of Israel tried to convince David that he could not win against such an imposing figure, David ignored them and the rest is history. David charged Goliath was a sling and dropped the giant with one stone. He then proceeded to take Goliath’s own sword and cut off his head for good measure. Suddenly, the entire Israeli army that had shown no taste for battle for forty days charged the Philistine army and won a great victory. When one man, by faith, broke a spiritual barrier others had considered impossible, they suddenly had faith for their own victory.
Later, David gathered a number of men around him that were referred to as David’s mighty men. These thirty or so men accomplished great, almost impossible deeds on their own including one of them killing a large Egyptian about the size of Goliath (See 2 Sam. 23, 1 Chron.11-12). I suspect that David’s faith and his willingness to do what others would not do inspired those who followed him.
I believe, God is looking for “Davids” and “spiritual Roger Bannisters” in every generation who, by faith, will do what Jesus did and even greater things. When one does, others will suddenly have the faith and a whole generation will follow. We should ask God to make us that person for our family, our church, our fellowship and the kingdom of God. Faith is about breaking psychological barriers that reason against what God says is true and possible. Jesus walked on water by faith. He stilled storms by faith. He healed the sick raised the dead in the same way. He asks us to believe that through him we can shatter barriers. When by faith and tenacity one believer breaks the barrier, others will quickly follow. So what is your four-minute mile? What spiritual barrier will you overcome so that others will follow? Ask God to show you.
