God In Real Life: Signs, Signs, Everywhere Are Signs

by Alizabeth Rasmussen

We all love getting signs - messages from God letting us know we're on the right track, synchronicities that aren't easily explained, evidence that the angels are watching out for us and guiding us. God shows up in all kinds of ways - an overheard conversation, an e-mail with the perfect message, song lyrics, license plates* - and, when He does, so does the feeling that all is right with the world. Sometimes.

The best signs are so powerful and so clear that there's no room for doubt. They bring with them undeniable evidence of God at work in our lives and a real-life definition of what "absolute clarity" feels like. For me, "absolute clarity" was what I got when I asked God to help me figure out why I'd lost all motivation to finish a Master's degree program I'd been working on diligently for four years...and a week later got the news that my school was closing. Very little room for interpretation there. This is the kind of sign that has a long shelf life (think Twinkies) and serves as a benchmark for other signs.

Most signs are not quite so dramatic or obvious. Most have a much shorter shelf life. My human self asks for them, wanting evidence that something my human self cannot even comprehend is at work in my life...but when the signs come, they have to be filtered and interpreted through my limited human perspective. And so I ask, "was THAT the sign I asked for?" I calculate the odds of seeing the same 3-digit number 400 times in one day. I ask for a sign that the sign I've just seen is a sign...and then question that when it comes. I wonder if I'm looking too hard, asking too much, trying to make meaning out of the meaningless and mundane. And worst of all, I worry that my constant need for reassurance is an indication of a lack of faith. Is faith still faith if it needs evidence of itself?

And then I remember (or as is often the case, I'm reminded)...it's not like it's a secret to God that I'm only human. If I had to pick one thing I appreciate most about what I've learned from Michele (and thank God I don't), this would be it...she's taught me to make room for my human doubts, fears and insecurities. And more than that - how to use those very things to build my relationship with God. It's okay to ask for signs...I have to believe that God wants to show Himself to us in ways we can comprehend. And it's okay to question the signs, because the questions with no answers are what ultimately strengthen our faith. The key for me has been in recognizing that there's a difference between being open to the messages God wants to get through and actively looking for them. "Looking" holds an expectation that the sign will show up in a certain way, and an expectation of how I will feel when it does. "Seeing" is about being receptive and allowing God to come through however He wants. Benchmark signs appear when I'm not looking and in ways I could never imagine, and that's what makes them so powerful. My human self can always find something to doubt or question, but the feeling that comes with a clear message from God is one that even my most cynical parts can't deny.

So I will keep asking, keep allowing and (no doubt) continue to get in God's way from time to time. It's all good, because I know that He "gets" me, and I know that He will always find a way to get through to me.

*If you're the kind of person who notices repeating numbers and patterns, you'll want to get a copy of Doreen Virtue's Angel Numbers book to keep in your car.