Signs

M. Night Shyamalan wrote and directed a film called, "Signs" which was released in 2002. The backstory of the movie was around a priest who had lost his wife and his faith. As the story progresses, we see events come together that would eventually restore the priest's faith and seem to indicate that the miraculous can happen in life. In the movie, evidence after evidence pointed to (I'll say) God working things together to guide and prove himself to this priest. Thus the title, "Signs". That's my very brief synopsis of the movie anyways; if you've seen it, you may have gotten something totally different out of it!

Signs can be used to indicate the presence of something that exists. They can also be used to point to or explain something. Signs are an important part of the Christian life. I'll explain.

First off, let me say, we do not follow signs; that can lead to disappointment and even deception. Our faith is not in the miraculous, or in the wonders, or in the signs. Our faith is in the God of the miraculous, of the wonders, of the signs. We trust not in the works of God, but in the God of the works. The reason we witness of what God has done in our lives and throughout history is to point to him, so that our hope and the hope of those we witness to would be in him, not in the signs or the miracles or the wonders themselves.

This is an important distinction. If someone questions or attacks the validity of what God has done in our lives, it doesn't shake us because our hope, our salvation, is not in the work of God but in the God of the work. Remember what he has done in your life, yes, but let it only serve to point you to the faithful One who continues to work in your life. God uses signs to bolster our faith in him and show us that he is real and still at work in the lives of people.

Now, it is indeed encouraging, refreshing, and amazing to see the evidence of God working in our lives and the lives of others. Growth is a natural progression in any child of God. But lest we become like Gideon who made an idol out of the victory of God in his life, we must avoid making idols out of the miraculous signs and wonders of God in our experience. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, especially in the times when God is silent - for the times when the signs are far and few between.

Finally, Scripture, the greatest sign if you will, points to one place; actually, to one person - the Lord Jesus Christ. Threaded throughout the bible are indicators, signs, and explanations of the One who came to earth, and all that he is, and all that he has accomplished. The cross is a sign of humility and enduring love. The resurrection is an assurance of what is to come when we pass from this life to the next. Our hope is not in our faith, our understanding, our doctrinal correctness, but in the God who, through Jesus, relates to us every day in humility, mercy, and understanding. 

We look back on his power in our lives and look forward trusting in God that he is able to perform powerfully among us. As Asaph wrote, "they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God". ¹

Scripture References

¹ Psalm 78:7