IS IT WRONG TO ASK FOR A SIGN?
He sighed deeply and said, "Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given it" Mark 8:12, N.I.V.
The young girl was filled with earnestness. She spoke of her pending engagement to a young man she'd met at college. "We're praying for a sign from God to let us know whether or not we should marry." As I pondered the significance of their request, something Jesus said came to my mind: "No sign will be given."
A large crowd of people had listened to the Master speak for three days. Many had come from long distances. Looking upon them, Jesus was moved with compassion. He knew that some would collapse if they were sent home hungry. He took a few loaves and fishes and fed several thousand people. Not long after that, the Pharisees came to question Him. "To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, 'Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it.' "
Why? Is it wrong to ask for a sign? Gideon did, twice, and God gave him exactly what he desired. Joshua and Hezekiah received the signs they asked for. When Ahaz was king of Judah, God spoke to him. "Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights" (Isa. 7:11). When Ahaz refused, God volunteered the prophetic sign of the virgin birth that would herald the coming Messiah (see verse 14).
May I suggest that asking for a sign can be an effort to shortcut the reasoning process that God so wisely desires us to develop. "Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses" (Heb. 12:1, N.I.V.), there is less need today to seek supernatural manifestations of God's will. His desire is for us to "have [our] faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil" (chap. 5:14, R.S.V.). Couples contemplating marriage need to consider carefully their compatibility, their family backgrounds, individual temperaments and lifestyles, as well as stated goals for life--not to look for an occurrence of some extraneous event tagged as evidence of God's feelings in the matter.
It's not wrong to ask for a sign--but God would rather we come to know Him so thoroughly that we no longer feel the need to ask for one.
He sighed deeply and said, "Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given it" Mark 8:12, N.I.V.
The young girl was filled with earnestness. She spoke of her pending engagement to a young man she'd met at college. "We're praying for a sign from God to let us know whether or not we should marry." As I pondered the significance of their request, something Jesus said came to my mind: "No sign will be given."
A large crowd of people had listened to the Master speak for three days. Many had come from long distances. Looking upon them, Jesus was moved with compassion. He knew that some would collapse if they were sent home hungry. He took a few loaves and fishes and fed several thousand people. Not long after that, the Pharisees came to question Him. "To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, 'Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it.' "
Why? Is it wrong to ask for a sign? Gideon did, twice, and God gave him exactly what he desired. Joshua and Hezekiah received the signs they asked for. When Ahaz was king of Judah, God spoke to him. "Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights" (Isa. 7:11). When Ahaz refused, God volunteered the prophetic sign of the virgin birth that would herald the coming Messiah (see verse 14).
May I suggest that asking for a sign can be an effort to shortcut the reasoning process that God so wisely desires us to develop. "Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses" (Heb. 12:1, N.I.V.), there is less need today to seek supernatural manifestations of God's will. His desire is for us to "have [our] faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil" (chap. 5:14, R.S.V.). Couples contemplating marriage need to consider carefully their compatibility, their family backgrounds, individual temperaments and lifestyles, as well as stated goals for life--not to look for an occurrence of some extraneous event tagged as evidence of God's feelings in the matter.
It's not wrong to ask for a sign--but God would rather we come to know Him so thoroughly that we no longer feel the need to ask for one.
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