UNDER CONSTRUCTION

A friend was talking to me recently about the signs from God she was recognizing in her life. Honestly, I’m not really sure how I feel about this topic. It’s not that I want to put God in a box. He can talk to us in any way He wants. He is God after all. Moses heard Him from a burning bush; Balaam's donkey spoke to him; and Nebuchadnezzar's future played out just the way the dream revealed. What makes me hesitant to embrace “signs” is the way we justify God’s hand at work when our “signs” clearly contradict the Bible.

Left to my thoughts the other morning, I recalled a time my husband attended an Illini football game in Champaign with his dad. It was a memory about the time my father-in-law was smacked in the face with a sign…. literally. To save money, they parked in one of the empty-field-turned parking-lots off campus. After the game one night, they were walking in darkness back to the car. Before my husband could get the words out to warn his dad… face plant right into a street sign. Ouch! (Is it rude to say he resembled a raccoon for quite some time?)

I feel a bit like my father-in-law with signs God has smacked me over the head with lately. No, I didn’t walk into a street sign and I’m not referring to signs that reaffirm my choices. I’m talking about the ones that give directions like we come across on the roads every day. These sings are pointing me toward life-change. There are WARNING signs that I must change my current thought patterns to avoid negatively impacting my girls’ futures. DETOUR signs have appeared all over my path changing the direction of my course. Just when I think I am picking up the pace toward the finish line, another DETOUR. I am told to YIELD and STOP more than ever before.

This is where I have been at in my life for some time now.

On the first day of summer vacation, my husband took the day off and we set off to the cheap movie theater for some family time. We ordered a large buttery popcorn to make the experience complete. Have you ever watched those machines make the tasty treat? Kernels pop all over the machine in every which way to perfect the idealistic movie snack. My mind has resembled the popcorn machine lately with my thoughts going every direction in order to line them up with God’s.

I realize my thoughts are not God’s thoughts. His ways are higher than my ways. Unfortunately, I don’t know that I’ve ever really believed it until now. And I’m still a work in progress. I’m seeing that I do put Him in a box too often. While I continue to apply for the job of the Holy Spirit, the position is already filled and God just wants me to live with purpose where He has called me. I’m in a season where God is opening my eyes and my heart. It’s a bit different for what I’ve always thought was right and true. That’s the problem. I’ve relied on my own thoughts for too long.

If I’m not blogging much these days, it is because the current sign in my life is UNDER CONSTRUCTION I’m attempting to watch, listen and respond to God. In this, is a struggle of breaking away from my selfishness and embracing humility. This is a difficult season for me but I’m going to remember the satisfying taste of luscious popcorn on my tongue and know God’s work will be so much more rewarding.