Signs

No, not this:



Although that could be taken as a sign.  I was thinking more along the lines of "a sign from God."

I've been thinking about this lately for a variety of reasons.  Zechariah and Elizabeth and Mary and Joseph received signs from God about their children.  Joseph and the Wise Men received signs to get out of town.  Peter received a sign from God that nobody is to be called unclean or profane.  Signs in the Bible are everywhere.

But what about us?  I hear people saying they received a sign from God almost as often.  I've noticed though that the signs those people receive from God are almost always in line with their own belief system; in other words, God rarely contradicts them.  So Pat Robertson can receive a sign that gays are bad through events like Hurricane Katrina.  Oral Roberts can receive a sign that he's supposed to get people to send him $1 million.  And the people of Westboro Baptist Church receive signs all the time that they are supposed to spread a gospel of hate.

But that's not really where I'm going either.

I'm thinking more along the lines of life is going fine and then, for no apparent reason, things start happening.  When someone first suggested I think about ordained ministry, I flatly refused.  But within a month or less the job went to hell, people out of the blue told me to think about seminary and other odd signs started popping up.  Hmmm.

Lately people I don't know have been asking odd questions.  Songs with a particular theme play on the radio.  And other signs have begun to appear.

The question is:  Are these actually signs, or am I focused on current events in such a way that I'm simply hyper-sensitive to things that simply appear as signs?

Good question, and one I need to pay attention to in the near future.