September: Day 8: Teaching 2: Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos

September: Day 8: Teaching 2: 
Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos
 
(That God Can Act Independently of the Laws of Nature and Perform Miracles)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The pious parents of the Mother of God, Joachim and Anna, were barren during their fifty years of marriage, and having reached a ripe old age, they no longer hoped to have children according to the law of nature. But their barrenness greatly grieved them, especially because many reproached them for it and said that the Lord did not favor them because of some of their secret sins. Therefore, they earnestly prayed to the Lord that He would deliver them from reproach and grant them fruit according to His goodness, as He once granted it to Abraham and Sarah. The prayer of the righteous was heard, and their patience was rewarded with the special mercy of God: for when the time appointed by Providence came for the birth of Her Who Herself was to bear the Savior of the world, then God sent His angel to announce to Joachim and Anna that this God-chosen maiden would be born of them. And truly, righteous Anna, who was then already about seventy years old, supernaturally conceived and at the appointed time gave birth to the Most Holy Virgin Mary. Thus, the birth of the Mother of God, which took place not according to the ordinary law of nature, but by the special action of God, clearly shows that "where God wills, the order of nature is overcome."

II. It must be so: for the Lord is the Creator and supreme Ruler of the universe; on His power all things depend, even the very laws of nature or order of nature. Therefore, when it pleases the Lord, He can obviously act independently of His laws, and even contrary to them, as He did when He stopped the sun in the time of Joshua. He can do that which exceeds the powers of nature and goes beyond the circle of its actions, as He showed when He raised the dead by His single word. In short, He can work miracles and do whatever He wills. No one will doubt this who has a proper conception of the infinite power of God, His unlimited freedom in governing the world, and the perfect dependence of all His creatures on Him.

When a self-willed person violates the law of God and moves away from the goal intended for him, and through this harms himself and others, then with the wisdom and goodness of God it is most agreeable that the Lord, as our loving Father and Master of the universe, Himself corrects or prevents the evil that may occur in this case. Thus it is proper for Him, the All-Wise and All-Good, to act in every case when the good of the world, nations and individuals need His special help.

a) He has indeed acted thus from ancient times. Here are several examples of this: when the human race sinned in Adam and was subject to eternal destruction, God Himself arranged for its salvation through His Only Begotten Son (John 3:16). When sinful people corrupted the earth with their iniquities, God Himself washed it with a miraculous flood (Genesis chs. 6 and 7). When the Jewish people suffered in Egypt from slavery, and even more from the temptations of wickedness, and could have lost the true faith, the Lord miraculously delivered them through Moses ( Ex. 3:1-20 ). When Saul wanted to destroy the young Church of Christ and was already on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians there, the Lord Himself appeared to him and miraculously made him an apostle from a persecutor (Acts 9:1-30). In short, in all cases when direct help from God was needed for the good of the world and people, the Lord showed it in various ways and often performed miracles.

b) He does not act any other way: "For in Him there is no change" (James 1:17). Although we often do not notice His power and action due to our inattention, and due to spiritual blindness we do not see His power and action. We usually attribute everything, even extraordinary events in the world, among nations and in our own lives, to some natural causes or to our own strength and coincidence of circumstances, and we forget the first cause of everything - God, the source of our life and strength, the supreme administrator of the universe. In this case, we are like foolish children who, looking at a clock and seeing the hand moving on it, think that it moves by itself, but do not know that its movement occurs from a spring hidden in the clock, arranged by a skilled artist who, at his will, can speed up, slow down and completely stop the clock, and at the same time the movement of the hand. No, brethren, God is the one who works all in all, says the Apostle (1 Cor. 12:6), He disposes of all and directs all to His good and wise goals; and nature, our powers and everything in the world are only instruments in His right hand for the achievement of these goals (Prov. 21:1; Ex. 35:1-6).

III. If God does what He wills, and when it pleases Him, the order of nature is overcome, which no one else can change. If He orders everything according to His own will, sometimes acts contrary to the laws of nature and produces such wonderful works that exceed natural forces, and yet through this the harmonious order of the world is not disturbed, but the highest good of creatures is still achieved: then from this it is evident that His power is unlimited, His wisdom is boundless. Let us humble ourselves before His greatness, let us revere His incomprehensible judgments, and submissively fulfill His holy will in everything. Let us not become despondent, brethren, and even more so despair, no matter in what difficult and dangerous circumstances we may find ourselves; but let us console ourselves with the thought that the merciful God cares for us and can deliver us from all troubles, and at the same time let us earnestly pray to Him for help in our needs.

 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.