He told them, “You have a saying that goes, ‘Red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky at morning, sailors take warning.’ You find it easy enough to forecast the weather—why can’t you read the signs of the times? Matt 16:3 (MSG)
By the very nature of our humanity, we all want assurance. Validation of our place in our jobs, school, families and social connections. Essentially we want assurance of our future. To know that for us, and our families, things will work out just fine. And nothing says, “assurance” like a sign.
When I studied economics at University we called these signs ‘indicators’; Indicators that a recession was coming, or that interest rates would rise or that unemployment would decrease, etc. The indicators heralded a direction of the economy and they helped assure economists (if there is any such assurance!?!) of that direction.
We all look for signs because signs remove an element of uncertainty… they minimise our doubts and help alleviate our fears. And there’s the key word – ‘fear’.
Like we often say, God and fear are on two separate ends of the spectrum. So if the motivation for God to reveal Himself (and the certainty of our futures) is done so by fear, it’s comparable to trying to win a Formula 1 race on a tricycle.
We are all made of billions of atoms that are moving every moment. These atoms constantly zoom off and our bodies are recreating. A chair is also made of billions of moving atoms and so it is miraculous that every time we sit down, the chair made of moving atoms holds the human made of moving atoms. But every time we sit down we don’t expect a ‘sign’ that this miracle will occur. We ‘just know’ (read: have faith) that it will. Aaahhhh now there’s another hint – faith!
Faith is driving the right vehicle to win the race. It is the knowledge that God just is. No signs necessary or needed for our certainty… or to alleviate our fears. And despite the amount of miracles that have and do occur, people still go on, blind to the fact that God is and will always be right there, intimately and intricately woven into our lives.
Our job, in every moment, is just to know.
