Don’t you just love signs that make you laugh, like these:
-One gas station that also had a restaurant had this on their changeable sign, “Eat here and get gas.”
-At a dry cleaners, “Leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time.¨
-On the side of the road, “When this sign is under water, this road is impassable."
-Outside a resale shop, “We exchange ANYTHING, bicycles, washing machines. Why not bring your wife along and get a wonderful bargain.¨
-And finally, here’s one if you’re looking for a pet, “Dog for sale, eats anything and is fond of children.
As a pastor I have noticed that most people are looking for some sort of a sign from God, not to make them laugh, but when trying to determine God’s will in their lives. However, the best way to understand God’s will for our lives is not through some “sign“, but through God’s word.
Pastor Craig Groeschel once said, “So many of us are asking for an open door when we still have a closed bible." It might sound harsh, but it’s good to evaluate if your prayers to God for His movement, power, and answers are really prayers, or are they a hostage negotiation wherein you, in your heart of hearts, are thinking, “God, come through for me how I want you to… or else.”
Now the Bible doesn’t specifically answer every question we have in life, but it does give us principles for living that we can apply to every situation.
The Bible reveals God’s truth to us in all of life’s issues; however, its primary purpose is not merely to educate us.
Hebrews 4:12 says, “What God has said isn't only alive and active! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. His word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts.”
Reading the bible without a relationship with God is like reading someone else’s mail.
I meet many people in our community who have right ideas about God, who intellectually accept Jesus as being God’s Son, who believe that the Bible is God’s word, but who’ve never entered into a personal love relationship with Jesus through faith. All these doctrines will do them no good, because the Christian faith is about being transformed, not merely about being informed. Once we enter into a relationship with God through Christ, the Bible is God’s primary means of changing us.
There is an old Jewish custom tied to the Passover celebration known as “Dayenu,” which, when translated, means “It would be enough.” Every year, the Israelites would partake in this custom, going step by step through the exodus story, and after each “moment” or “event,” they would declare “dayenu.” For example, “If God had only led us out of Egypt but not delivered us across the Red Sea…. dayenu.”
This custom gives a posture of faith, “We have seen God move, and if we never see anything again, it would be enough.” I wonder if that reality could be true in your life, too. Rather than asking for another sign or open door, could you look back in your life and ask, “How has God already shown up?” “How has he already proven His track record to you?”
I encourage you to get back into God’s word and rediscover His great love for you and in that search for Him you will find all the answers that you really need.
