In 2 Nephi 27:23 it says, “For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith.”

This suggests that there is a relationship between God performing miracles and the faith people have. But what does that relationship look like and why is it important to me?

Dictionary.com defines “according to” as “in agreement or accord with; consistent with; in conformity with; in proportion to; contingent on. So it seems that if people exercise more faith then more miracles should happen.

That doesn’t mean that our faith makes God perform a miracle. But it does mean that when we believe in God and act upon that belief it opens our mind, our heart, our body and our life to be a good place for Him to work and to work through to help others.

Elder Gary E. Stevenson shared the words of a friend of his who was dying of cancer. “[I have faith] Because faith is what gets me through these dark times. Having faith doesn’t mean nothing bad is going to happen. Having faith allows me to believe that there will be light again. And that light will be even brighter because I have walked through the dark. As much darkness as I have witnessed over the years, I have witnessed far more light. I have seen miracles…. If I choose to not have faith then I choose to only walk in darkness. Because without faith, darkness is all that is left.”

When we have that kind of faith and recognize that miracles are always for our good, even though they do not often come in the way we may think they should, we will find greater peace in our lives. And when we look for those things that happen to benefit us in some way (however big or small) and we can’t explain why it happened, we will see that our Father is helping because He is a “God of Miracles.” Then we can express our gratitude to Him for what He has given us and not focus on what he hasn’t done.