Asking For a Sign

 Judges 6:17-21 (NASB)

¹⁷  So Gideon said to Him, "If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who speak with me.
¹⁸  "Please do not depart from here, until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You." And He said, "I will remain until you return."
¹⁹  Then Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the oak and presented them.
²⁰  The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And he did so.
²¹  Then the angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.

I find it interesting that Gideon asked for a sign. In essence, he wanted proof that God was speaking to him. Don't we do the same thing? We ask God for signs to prove He exists, that He speaks, and to reveal His will. God answered Gideon in very dramatic fashion. Fire consumed the offering and the angel of the LORD vanished. 

Just a few verses later Gideon asked God for another sign. We call it a fleece prayer. He asked God to give another sign of the fleece being wet with dew but the ground remaining dry. God did what Gideon asked. That was not good enough. Then Gideon reversed the prayer and asked that the fleece remain dry while the ground be wet. God answered both prayers. He certainly did not have to do so. 

While meditating on these incidents I was reminded of something Jesus said. 

Matthew 12:38-40 (NASB)
³⁸  Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."
³⁹  But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;
⁴⁰  for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Jesus said that those seeking signs were an evil and adulterous generation. 

There are people who constantly want reassurance from God. They crave signs and wonders. They go from experience to experience. From dramatic feeling to dramatic feeling. They constantly want proof. We are supposed to approach God by faith, follow by faith, and trust by faith even when there are no signs. 

Gideon asked for signs and God gave them to him. I believe it was because his faith was weak. Yet Gideon is mentioned in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. Jesus rebuked people asking for signs. Where does that leave us?

Do you frequently ask God for signs? To show where to go or what to do? I certainly have in the past. On major decisions like marrying Brenda. Like where to serve Him. For guidance. Sometimes for reassurance. Many of those times God did not answer the prayer with a sign. In fact, on few occasions can I say God answered with signs. Nothing out of the ordinary. 

The most prominent way God has communicated with me over the years has been in the pages of scripture. When God wanted to reveal something to me He did it in His word. Many times with the same verses showing up again and again. Instead of spending all my time asking for signs and God to prove Himself repeatedly, I go to His word. He speaks there. 

Desperate people ask for signs. I recall an incident when I was child wondering if God was real. I prayed a sign prayer before I went to bed. I prayed, "God if you are real let the hat hanging on my mirror fall. I don't care how you do it, prove that you exist." I meant no disrespect. I was a curious seeker with sincere desire to know for sure God existed. I went to bed and slept soundly all night. When I awoke, I remembered my prayer. I turned the light on and discovered... my hat still hanging on the mirror. I went on with my day and did not think much more about God until I was a junior in high school and was confronted with the gospel messenger. God showed me He was real that night. It was my Damascus Road experience. 

When I think back on that foolish prayer as a child, I am ashamed. I think God was amused. Like He had to prove Himself with something so silly as a hat falling to the ground. God has already proven Himself. Just look at creation. That did not just happen. God has revealed Himself in His word, yet few take the time to read and see for themselves. Sometimes God reveals Himself in dreams. This is happening right now to many Muslims. The report seeing a man in their dreams who turns out to be Jesus. 

God is not obligated to prove Himself. He does not have to answer sign prayers. Sometimes He chooses to do so. We do not want to be labeled evil and adulterous because of continually seeking signs. Let us be content to follow Jesus by faith. If God wills to show signs like He did repeatedly through Jesus in the book of John so, be it. He does not want us to spend our time seeking signs when we should be seeking Him through His word.