What signs of God are you looking for? If God’s sign came with the message, “Stop what you are doing?” would you want to hear it?
Life can bring us difficult seasons to face. We may look for signs to affirm us in what we are already doing, to confirm that we are on the right path, and to assuage our existential anxiety.
Yet there is something greater than our demand for the sign of God’s presence, namely, the reality of God’s gracious presence. For the sign that we are always looking for is already here with us, lovingly working deeply within our lives.
Grace lets us know we are not alone and inspires us to keep on going. Grace signs come to us in and through water, bread and wine; grace signs come to us in the living and proclaimed word revealed in and through the scriptures, creation and our human hearts.
But sometimes there are warning signs that urge us to stop while we are ahead, ahead of the pack we’re wanting to have anything to do with, ahead of the game in which we’ve already been propped up to win more than our fair share. Sometimes, we forget that we ourselves are an integral part of the sign of God’s love.
Faithful God, give us eyes to see the signs of your loving work deep within us. Amen. —