Signs, Signs everywhere are signs

I am coming upon another opportunity to preach next week. These are refreshing changes in my schedule and often give me the opportunity to learn a little more about myself as well as learning about scripture.

The upcoming passages for the Sunday deal alot with signs. (It's Advent of course.) Yesterday, I talked about my uncertainty in a sign I was being given. When we see a road sign, we know what we are supposed to do (stop, yield, turn), the signs from God can be a little more interesting.

Moses saw a burning bush. The burning bush was God telling him to lead the Israelites out of slavery. It was a pretty "in your face" sign from God. Yes, he could have avoided it, but he did not. Do we have those signs now? Does God show up and tell people to build big boats, does God come in burning bushes? Would we pay attention if it did happen?

I think throughout life we have signs, they may not be as in your face as a burning bush, but we have little "ways" of letting us know what the answer is supposed to be.

I remember when my mother had decided to retire from teaching kindergarten she called me one night worried about her decision. She was a life long teacher. It was all she knew. She worried whether it was really time to retire. I gave her the good "ministry" answer to her questions, "Well, mom, if you are supposed to retire now, God will let you know."

About a month later, my mother was headed to a school board meeting. Midland had always had kindergarten helpers that were Seniors in High School who sorta "student" taught and helped out in the classroom part time each day. The decision was being made as to whether Midland should have the program. They decided, for whatever reason, to abolish the program. That meant that her extra helpers were gone. She looked to God and said, "Ok I hear you."

I often wonder why we, or more specifically me I guess, don't look to God for guidance in decisions. We take for granted that guidance when it comes to problems and dilemmas. But even more than that, we miss the signs. We miss the roadblocks, the directional signs, the yield signs that God often throws directly in our path.

Why? I can answer that very simply for me. I like control. I like control. I like control. Letting go of that control and being aware of what God is doing in my life may seem easy, but I really like control.

I think it goes even one step further though. We get so caught up in our lists and our processes of life, the doing that we forget to experience. We forget the slow down. We forget to enjoy. I talk alot about my noise, but that is it. We don't let ourselves get rid of the noise and see the signs of God and from God that are right there in our face sometimes. We are so preoccupied with this and that that we lose reality of what is truly important.

AMEN