It's Not Always Obvious

Scripture: 1 Samuel 10:7 – “Now when these signs meet you, do whatever you see fit to do, for God is with you.” (NRSVUE)

Sometimes, I am fascinated by the testimony of people who have rejected or left the church. I want to know what we as Christians can do to better welcome people into the Gospel. Common refrains are that faith is irreconcilable with science, that the Bible is full of contradictions, and the hypocrisy of Christians proves that religion cannot transform lives.

But the most common reason is the lack of a sign from God. People expect to be overwhelmed by the spirit of God during their confirmation or baptism. They expect God to provide a miraculous response to a prayer for health or personal transformation. And when this doesn’t occur, they figure that the God who they were taught always answers prayers must not exist. My friend from high school called this the ham sandwich problem. If he prayed for a ham sandwich to materialize in front of him and God, in all divine omnipotence, did not do it, then how could God be depended upon to create the universe or save the despairing?

If you read certain parts of the Bible, I could understand why someone could feel this way. Look at the call of Saul to be King of Israel in the First Book of Samuel. When the people of Israel demand that they have a king like all other nations, the prophet Samuel reluctantly agrees and chooses Saul to be that king. When the two of them are alone, Samuel anoints Saul with oil and tells him that three signs will prove that God has chosen him. He is to go to three locations. At the first, someone will say that they found the donkey he was looking for. At the second, three people will be carrying goats, bread, and wine, and will offer him some of the bread. At the final, Saul is to join a band of musical prophets in their “prophetic frenzy.” These are oddly specific. It implies that God’s favor is proven through unexpected coincidence, and that if we can see the signs, we will know the presence of God.

But faith doesn’t work like that, and indeed Saul’s reign was a disaster. In our lives, we don’t always receive obvious signs like ham sandwiches or mysteriously reappearing donkeys. Faith is trusting that God is with us without tangible evidence. God can be a sense, a whisper, and a promise. We often see God’s hand after the fact, guiding us to particular life circumstances and granting us peace when the world says we should have no peace. While obvious miracles can happen, they should not be necessary for us to find faith.

The greater miracles are the love we give, the love we find in others, and the ability to discern that there is more to life than just what we see. We cannot depend on a series of signs and miracles. But we can depend on God to always comfort and guide us.

Prayer: God, make yourself known to me eve in subtle ways that I might answer your call to love the world. Amen.

Image credit: NARA & DVIDS Public Domain Archive.