LOOKING FOR SIGNS
SCRIPTURE
So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
-Colossians 1:9-10 (NLT)
When I drive to a new place, I look for street signs or landmarks. If I'm honest, I wish someone was waiting at an intersection with a sign that said: "This way, Debbie." Then I would know it's my sign. That's what we want from God too, right? We want God to give us our own sign when choices confuse us or a direction isn't clear. We want a sign to help us know for sure. Sometimes out of desperation, we grab anything that looks or feels right. Then we make our case for why this was our sign from God. But deep inside, we may still wonder.
God will give us signs, but they won't be billboards. They are more like nudges, openings, or an awareness that does not go away but grows stronger.
Peace is one of God's heart signs. Not circumstantial peace that removes whatever triggered our fear or stress. This peace comesdespite distress. This peace only makes sense when we trust God for what we do not know.
Hope is another sign. God always gives us a reason to hope. We lose our way when we look for hope to show up in how we want our circumstances to be different. We find hope when we remember that God always knows what we don't. We hope for what God will do, not what we want God to do.
Timing is another sign that is easy to miss or misuse. Here we must use our spiritual eyes as our compass to look for factors that come together in ways we couldn't have made happen on our own. That's when we see God working as all the signs come together to point in the same direction.
The ultimate sign God sent us was Jesus. Jesus pointed the way to find God's will through obedience, servanthood, and surrender. It is the same path for us. Obedience teaches trust. Servan-thood teaches humility. Surrender teaches authority. These are the signs that affirm God's will.
BURNING QUESTIONS
AFFIRMATION
God wants me to do his will and sends his signs to point the way.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Direction-giving Lord, when I look for direction, remind me to look for your signs to guide me.
SCRIPTURE
So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
-Colossians 1:9-10 (NLT)
When I drive to a new place, I look for street signs or landmarks. If I'm honest, I wish someone was waiting at an intersection with a sign that said: "This way, Debbie." Then I would know it's my sign. That's what we want from God too, right? We want God to give us our own sign when choices confuse us or a direction isn't clear. We want a sign to help us know for sure. Sometimes out of desperation, we grab anything that looks or feels right. Then we make our case for why this was our sign from God. But deep inside, we may still wonder.
God will give us signs, but they won't be billboards. They are more like nudges, openings, or an awareness that does not go away but grows stronger.
Peace is one of God's heart signs. Not circumstantial peace that removes whatever triggered our fear or stress. This peace comesdespite distress. This peace only makes sense when we trust God for what we do not know.
Hope is another sign. God always gives us a reason to hope. We lose our way when we look for hope to show up in how we want our circumstances to be different. We find hope when we remember that God always knows what we don't. We hope for what God will do, not what we want God to do.
Timing is another sign that is easy to miss or misuse. Here we must use our spiritual eyes as our compass to look for factors that come together in ways we couldn't have made happen on our own. That's when we see God working as all the signs come together to point in the same direction.
The ultimate sign God sent us was Jesus. Jesus pointed the way to find God's will through obedience, servanthood, and surrender. It is the same path for us. Obedience teaches trust. Servan-thood teaches humility. Surrender teaches authority. These are the signs that affirm God's will.
BURNING QUESTIONS
- What else do we need?
AFFIRMATION
God wants me to do his will and sends his signs to point the way.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Direction-giving Lord, when I look for direction, remind me to look for your signs to guide me.
Posted in Lent