Discerning someone’s tone is difficult in today’s digital communications because how something is said can carry wildly different impressions. We see this in our body language and vocal tones–the same thing could be said genuinely, literally, sarcastically, or ironically. With text, then, how the recipient inserts the unspoken intention can easily lead to misunderstandings. I know I have been guilty of misinterpreting plenty of uncommunicated intentions.
Intentions are the crux of our Christian faith. If speaking to God, I might ask God, “show me a sign” and have drastically different intentions. We see this throughout the Bible, as well. While the ancient Israelites were wandering the desert after leaving Egypt, they camped at a place named Rephidim in Exodus 17. Unfortunately, there was no water; the Israelites were rightfully concerned but lacked appropriate faith. They accused Moses of leading them to their death–which becomes a recurrent theme in Exodus–and ultimately grumble, ”Is the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7, NIV) This leads to Moses striking a rock to spring forth water, but the episode must have been particularly bad because Moses named the place “Massah” and “Meribah,” respectively meaning “testing” and “quarreling.”
When creating the legal and cultural laws for the Israelites, God declares in Deuteronomy, “Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah.” (Deuteronomy 6:16, NIV) This is the same verse that Jesus cites during His temptation at the hands of Satan, when the devil quotes Scripture to suggest Jesus throw Himself off a cliff to reveal the power of God to protect Him. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16, and the devil eventually flees.
But is asking for a sign really a form of “testing”? Is Satan’s provocation different than the Israelites’ demand for water? In this sense, they are much the same. Remember that the Israelites were antagonistically looking for God, through Moses, to prove Himself faithful and real. They asked, “Is the Lord among us or not?” Satan equally questioned God’s faithfulness in front of Jesus. Not only that, but we see similar behavior when religious leaders ask Jesus for a sign in Matthew 12. Jesus replies to them, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” (Matthew 12:39, NIV)
So, case closed? Testing God or asking for signs are prohibited, right? Not so fast. A favorite verse for instructing believers in tithing comes from Malachi. God speaks through him, “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’” (Malachi 3:10, NIV) Did you catch it? Test me in this. OK, that seems like an anomaly or maybe a contradiction.
But that’s not all. In Judges, Gideon is so fearful of his anointed assignment that he asks for a sign from God multiple times with an offering and his famous wet and dry fleece (Judges 6:17, 6:37, 6:39). Also in Judges, Jephthah attempts to bargain with God, offering a sacrifice of whatever meets him in victory “If you give the Ammonites into my hands,” (Judges 11:30, NIV) Samuel’s mother, Hannah, makes a similar bargain that if God blesses her with a son, she will commit him to the Lord’s service. (1 Samuel 1). These conditional offerings hardly differ from grumbling or doubt in structure but are wildly different in their intention.
And that is the key to understanding what God seeks from us or condemns in us: what is our intention with Him? Are we looking for means to disprove His existence, like the thirsty Israelites or the conniving devil? Or are we looking for a confirmation of our existing faith, like Gideon or Hannah? Those whom God blesses already believe and are looking for encouragement to believe more. Their binary answer of belief or disbelief is not in the balance; instead, they are seeking to know God and His will more deeply.
Even Abraham, the father of the Judeo-Christian faith, asked for a sign of confirmation. God promised him the land of Canaan, but Abraham (then named Abram) responded, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?” (Genesis 15:8, NIV) This is right after his faith was credited to him as righteousness (15:6). God saw Abraham’s faith but also eased his worry.
It is our intention that makes the difference. Being a stubborn human attempting to make God bend to our resistant will is not going to elicit sympathy from the Great Creator. However, a humble servant revealing my weakness of faith or expressing my worry is met with love, tenderness, and confirmation. I’ve had similar experiences in my own life, specifically with the birth of my son. I’ve heard other testimonies where confirmation was also graciously given. I know God’s gentleness and faithfulness lead Him to meet us in earnestness but not in our obstinance.
Are you looking for a sign of God’s existence? Start with your intentions. Will you only believe in Him if He bends to your will and desire? He won’t. Or are you simply hoping, in weakness, to know how much your Creator cares for you? He’s much more interested in that–His Word proves it.
Like the man whose sick son was dying in Mark 9 cries out, “help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:23), we are also allowed to seek the Lord in desperate humility. As Jesus opens in His Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8, NIV) Our intentions make all the difference–they impact what God will reveal to us. So, what are yours?
37 - Is it ok to ask God for a sign?