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Lord, Give Me a Sign?
Have you heard it said that we shouldn’t ask God for signs? I have. I’ve heard it said that we don’t need signs from God because all we need to know is found in the Bible. I am a sold-out advocate that we should absolutely turn to the Word of God for answers. Undoubtedly, it will guide us in what we need to know.
But what about when we need specific answers? Like should I marry this man or woman? Or should I move to this place? Should I start this ministry? As an author, I can assure you I prayed on every aspect of my book. And I can also assure you that nowhere in the Bible did I read “XXX is your book cover designer”.
I will tell you later how God revealed to me who my book cover designer would be. But first, let’s look at why people say we shouldn’t ask God for a sign. It is primarily derived from the following verse or verses similar to it:
And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation. (Mark 8:11–12,NIV)
It says Christ sighed deeply in His spirit. He seemed quite annoyed at their request. So, would God be annoyed if we asked Him for a sign today? This is definitely a subject with dissecting. God forbid if we annoy or aggravate Him, right? So, let’s dig into it.
It is always important to look at the context of a subject to get a full picture of what is being said. It also helps to counter reference other scriptures. In this context, Christ is speaking to the Pharisees who were asking Christ for a sign. If we know anything about the Pharisees, we know that they hated Christ because of his teachings and they did not believe He was Lord.
Christ had already performed several signs, wonders, and miracles at this point. So, why exactly did the Pharisees need a sign? If you go back to the referenced verse, you’ll see it says they were “tempting him”. Their request for a sign was not needed nor was it genuine. Let’s look at another reference of this text.
The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is…
