I am the son of a magician. Not just any magician, he was once the Great Waldini, but that was a long time ago. Now he is just Walker Moore (who is still great in my opinion).
Before I was born, my dad used magic as a way to entertain, but he also used it as an evangelistic tool. I used to read through his collection of old magic magazines and dream of being the next Houdini.
I’m currently going through a stage where I have fallen back in love with magic. I’ve been practicing old tricks and learning some new ones. My two young boys are a fantastic audience, even if they can’t remember the card they picked by the time the trick is over.
The reason people love a good magic show is because we are shocked when something is presented to us that we can’t explain. I think this says something about all of us. We assume that we know and understand so much of the world that something truly marvelous has to happen to wake us up and remind us that there is still some mystery in the world.
There is still so much to life that is a mystery. We should be surprised when we actually understand something, not the other way around. This is why young children have a constant sense of awe about them – the world is one great big mystery.
I think we lose that awe, not because we suddenly have all the answers, but because we just stop looking for the answers. As Christians, we don’t believe in magic in the traditional sense, but we do believe in the supernatural.
We can often be afraid of talking about supernatural things; some aspects of the supernatural have been shoplifted from sound biblical theology and turned into a spectacle. But that does not mean that supernatural things don’t exist.
As Christians we shouldn’t have to wait for a magic trick to awaken our sense of wonder. We are called to have childlike faith, one that expects wondrous things to happen.
Far too often, when a problem arises, my first instinct is to think about how I can fix it. I look first to the natural world, and usually that is enough. If your bank account is low, we know we just have to work harder. If there is conflict, we know we just have to talk it out; we go to the natural first because it often works.
But Christians are called to take everything to God in prayer first. God wants to work in our lives. He wants to surprise us and show us that life can still be full of wonder.
Some people call it a miracle; some people call it magic, but it is really just God doing what He said He would do. He listens to prayers and answers some of them.
The best stories I have are the ones where I didn’t have a natural way to fix the situation, and I looked to God. When He shows up, it’s better than any magic trick, because it’s real.
Don’t get so used to the routine of your life that you forget to live in awe of the wonder and “magic” of a loving God.