Simply put, I believe that God still performs miracles today. However, He is finished performing magic tricks for the masses as was done for the Israelites. I think most of the miracles that occur now are answered prayers, like when I prayed for a painless pregnancy and delivery. *smiles* I was only sick once and received an epidural just as my labor pains were beginning, so I really never had any discomfort to speak of. During my first pregnancy, which wasn't carried to term, I puked every single day, several times a day. Ask any woman who's given birth, and they'll tell you I had it exceptionally easy. Some people might not find that miraculous. *shrugs* They could say I was just lucky.

As far as questioning why God doesn't help everyone all the time, I don't really have an answer for that. I don't know why my aunt's breast cancer wasn't cured, and she died at only 40 years old after 3 years of treatment, leaving behind a loving husband and 3 young children. The only thing I can think of is that when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were banished from a life of ease in the Garden of Eden, they weren't promised that life would be fair. In fact, they were promised that life would be hard. They had to work for their food instead of simply foraging in the lush garden, and the ground wasn't going to cooperate. There were now weeds and such to deal with. Then, tragedy struck when Cain killed Abel. I suppose God could have prevented Cain from bashing in his brother's skull. I also think He could have prevented Eve from eating the forbidden fruit. Why even put the tree in the garden to start with? Should we blame God for giving us free will? Maybe my aunt shouldn't have smoked cigarettes. Maybe she should've gone to the doctor sooner when she noticed a lump and demanded that it be excised. Some things are brought upon ourselves. Some things are unexplainable. We could drive ourselves crazy with "what ifs." I choose to believe that a rainbow is a miracle, a promise from God that he won't destroy the entire world with water again.

Next time, it'll be with fire. *eg*