The Sign You Seek May Not Be the One You Expect
“I just wish I had a sign from God to know what to do next.”
I heard that statement from a thirty-four-year-old man whose business was failing. He knew he needed more capital to generate more business income, but the odds were against him. He faced stiff competition, and profit margins were slim.
He was up against the wall and didn’t know what to do next. He hoped a sign from God would give him the direction he needed.
Of course, looking for a sign from God is not limited to the business world. It is prominent in the world in relationships when people are facing romantic choices. People starting their college education or entering new careers also make this statement.
What is a sign from God? And do you really need one to get God’s pre-approval for your next step in life?
A Sign Defined
The term “sign” is used in the Bible in two primary ways. Let’s take a quick look to see if either applies to the decision-making process.
A Sign Confirms God’s Word
The term sign in the Bible is used primarily to confirm God’s word. That may be a problem from the start because if you read, believe, and obey the Bible, why would you need confirmation of what you already know by some outward personalized sign?
This was the problem of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They knew the teaching of the Old Testament about the coming of the Messiah, but they came to Jesus seeking a sign as proof (Mark 8:11-12; John 2:18). They would not have needed proof if they were authentic students of the Bible, according to Jesus in his remarks in Matthew 16:1-4.
Seeking a sign for something already clear in Scripture is like saying, “I don’t believe; prove it to me.” It is more about a person of weak faith needing reassurance than anything else, which is not a good look.
We can see this example in Judges 6 when God indulged Gideon’s lack of faith. God clearly told Gideon that he wanted him to lead a shock and awe attack against the Midianites. God even confirmed victory by saying, “I will be with you” (v. 16).
But God’s word was not enough from Gideon. Gideon said, “I think you’re lying to me, God, so show me a sign.” Gideon went through the rigmarole with wet and dry fleeces. Gideon simply didn’t believe God. He knew what God had told him to do (v. 36), but he had the arrogance to test God by seeking a sign.
Today, the paradigm has shifted. Confirming signs designed to test God are unnecessary if they ever were. Jesus said he would send his Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us, giving us all the essential information we need (John 16:5-13). The concern for Christians today should not be the vanity of seeking confirming signs but how to hear and be obedient to the Holy Spirit.
A Sign Demonstrates God’s Power
- The star followed by the Magi to attend the birth of Christ (Matthew 2:9).
- Jesus feeding the hungry and healing the sick (John 6:1–14; Luke 4:40).
- The resurrection of Christ (Matthew 28:1-10).
- The actions of the first Apostles (Acts 3).
Signs and wonders are a different order of activity that supersedes testing God. Signs and wonders existed in a slice of time to show the authority of Jesus and the legitimacy of the apostle’s testimony about him. By signs and wonders, they signaled the epoch shift from Law to Grace and how people were to interact with God.
It should be noted that everyone did not practice signs and wonders. According to Luke in the Book of Acts, God performed them through the apostles, Peter, Stephen, Phillip, Paul, and Barnabas, and not through every believer. In fact, one “layman” tried to buy the ability to perform signs and wonders from Peter and was condemned. That story is told in Acts 8:9-24.
Should You Seek a Sign from God About Your Dilemma?
We must reserve judgment about signs and wonders in our time. God used them for an extraordinary purpose at a certain point in history. The evidence is that they were not intended to be everyday occurrences. Will there be a need for signs and wonders in the future? We should not be quick to discount that possibility.
But what about seeking a sign from God about your personal dilemmas? As you can see from the Bible, sign-seeking is generally a sign of disobedience to God because it tests what God has already made plain in this written word and by the witness of the Holy Spirit.
We don’t need signs when we are already in the groove with God. We simply exercise our free will in accordance with the Godly principles found in the Bible and the whisper of the Spirit.
God cares about every aspect of our life (Matthew 10:29-30). But discovering his will for your life is found in the Bible, in prayer, and in the voice of the Holy Spirit within you, not seeking after signs that prove what God has already said through these means.
This question brings us to what I call the “red or blue car” quandary. When you correctly assume from Scripture that God wants you to get an education or job to one day support yourself and your family, you can conclude that it is God’s will that you buy a car. After all, even Jesus needed transportation to get into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
Using God-supplied reason, you conclude that you can afford a particular kind of car and that it will meet your needs. When you go to the dealership, you find they have two identical cars that meet those needs, one red and the other blue.”
Do you need a sign from God about which one to buy? No. It’s your choice.
God wants you to exercise the free will he embedded in you. God cares, but he gave you the capacity to do as you wish when you are not violating scriptural precepts or your Holy Spirit-fueled conscience.
Dare I say it? This also applies to more drastic things in life, like mate selection. If your choice is congruent with general biblical directives (a member of the household of faith, and so forth) and the witness of the Spirit, then you are free to select the blond or brunet or the wimpy or beefy guy, as you desire.
Do not test the Lord by requesting signs to confirm his Word. Instead, walk with the Lord daily, and he will signal the way forward along the way. It is enough to walk in the light and act accordingly without resorting to dramatic gestures like seeking proof from God through signs.
Sources cited: Unless otherwise noted, Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version (ESV).
