Give me a sign.

“God, how do I know I am doing what you have called me to do? I think I am but when I meet resistance from people that I would typically trust….I wonder. I need a sign God that I am where you want
me and I am doing what you want me to.”

This is a frequent prayer of mine. I know that God is not a deal maker and I know that ultimately God has a plan for me, but when I am in the trenches of everyday life, sometimes the opposition becomes overwhelming…I won’t lie, thoughts of quitting cross my mind. Sometimes I wonder if living a life for Christ is worth the frustration...maybe it’s just easier to let myself and my children do what we want regardless of how God feels about it.

But then I think about the •joy• I get from hearing and seeing signs from God, they by far out weigh my desire to live a life of apart from Him. (thank goodness)

The story of Gideon came to mind during a conversation with my daughter, so she read it, then I re-read it and we both decided that it’s OK to ask God for signs, especially for prayers that have been weighing heavy on our hearts. Life directions are some times hard to follow when we are trying to hear from God, so I decided I needed some hard-core visual and audible signs. I asked God to speak loud and clear to me and sure enough He has honored my request.

Here is the short story of Gideon: Taken from Judges 6-8
via The Bible Stories Library

“"How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest of all Israel, and I am the weakest of my clan!" cried Gideon. "If this is true, give me a sign." That night, Gideon prayed to God and said, "Father, if you are really going to use me to save my nation, make the dew form on just this fleece and keep the grass around it dry."

He placed a wool fleece on the ground and went to bed. The next morning when he awoke, he checked the fleece. It was so wet, he wrung a bowl of water from it and the grass around it was dry.

That night he asked God, "Dear God, please don't be mad at me. I want to be sure you are going to use me to save my people. Tonight, make the fleece dry, and the grass around it wet." He placed the wool fleece on the ground and went to bed. When he awoke the next morning, he picked up the fleece. It was as dry as popcorn without butter and his bare feet were soaked with water from the grass. It was true, God was going to use him to save Israel.”

I didn’t actually put a fleece out for God to get wet or keep dry, but I did ask for a sign, OK, I asked for more than one sign. Since the time I asked God to humor me in this way, He has done just that. Yes, I admit being in need of reassurance, especially since the opposition is coming from a place very close to home. My question, “God am I where you want me in this season of my life.” God’s answer, “Yes.” How did I hear this you may ask, well…. through people that have encouraged me over the last few months and through very clear answers to prayers. This is not an exaggeration, at least once a day for about the last 4 months I have received either words of encouragement or a sign from God that He hears my prayers and is taking them very seriously.

God knows our heart and knows when we are in deep need of reassurance, that is when He becomes our Encourager and often uses people to be the messengers. In the following verse, God gives us words of encouragement to keep us going.

Isaiah 35:3-4
“Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts, be strong, do not fear;
your God will come, he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution he will come to save you.”

**special note of interest, while I was writing this blog God thought it would be fun to send me another sign, a facebook message that answered an ongoing prayer**

{{I love how God works}}