It's a Sign

It seems as if I’m always looking for “signs.” You know, those clear flashing lights that show you what it is that God wants you to do? Those blatant happenings in life that guide you and show you whether to go through door A, door B, or even close door C all together.

Signs.

God gave us the rainbow as a sign.  And I’ve always wanted something that obvious to be revealed to me as I seek out the answers to my deepest questions.

Usually, I sigh. For it seems as if I never get the sign that I’m truly looking for. Maybe that’s because I’m looking for the wrong size of a sign. I’m looking for that distinctly-written-out sign that leaves no room for error or wrong interpretation. I’m looking for that sign that says, “Turn left” or “turn right.” When in reality, the signs God may be leaving me may not be up in the sky or on the corner, but down at my feet.  For I see in retrospect, that many times I may not have seen that blatant “rainbow” in the sky, but there was definitely a trail of signs left at my feet.

A trail.

God often shows us what to do many times and in many ways. He gently whispers. He lovingly prods, He leaves little nibbles of suggestions all around us. And we look away because we expect something big and lavish. We are too focused on what we want to see that we don’t see that He’s left us signs everywhere.

So many times I can look back and see how God has closed doors or opened them – in turn shifting my path and direction as I walked towards a goal or destination. I didn’t even know it. Didn’t even realize that He was guiding me around obstacles, or veering me away from a different outcome. But He was.

Oftentimes, I’ve discovered that the catalyst comes through transitions. Transitions that naturally happen in life. God uses those to channel us towards (or away from) something so that we don’t grow lazy and complacent.

Transitions may be hard and uncomfortable, or they may be exciting – but still they come whether we ask for them or not. They come in a season and at a time when God is ready to move us. 

During that time of confusion, we may ask and seek Him for a sign of what to do and where to go, but He’s already moving and guiding us forward on His agenda.

Yes, I may still hope for that neon flashing sign at times. I may still feel like I need things spelled out for me. But even if I don’t find it, I know that God is still leaving me signs of direction. It’s just that because I may be looking for something bold that I overlook the personal and private sign that He’s left only for me to see.

The next time you are looking to the sky for that big sign……try dropping your head and instead look all around you.  I’m willing to bet there are little trail crumbs that point the way.  For God never leaves us lost.