Remember the signs
- Rachel Meixner
- 5 hours ago
- 7 min read
Have you ever asked God for a sign and then felt hypervigilant about everything? Or perhaps you wanted to avoid this kind of “superstitious” approach to knowing God’s will, so you didn’t dare to ask for a sign at all.
It took me several years to arrive at a healthy and balanced view of how signs work in my walk with the Lord. How do we balance asking God to reveal a path forward to us without viewing God as a vending machine?
Relationship with God
The first lesson I learned was that seeking signs from the Lord apart from a relationship with him results in confusion and frustration. In high school and college, I would sit at length in the chapel and expect that, if I just gave God enough time, he would reveal my vocation. While that was partially true, my timeline and God’s are two very different things. I learned that discovering what God has in store for me in the future requires that I pay attention to what he has in store for me right now. Only through growing in personal friendship with God did I come to a greater understanding of who he is and what he desires for me. Discernment became less about trying to solve a puzzle and more about paying attention to the Beloved and what he is pointing out to me in the moment.
Only when I take the time to know God in a personal way can I truly recognize the “sound” of his voice in my life.
I remember a particular instance when I experienced this clarity. I had signed up for a discernment retreat and was anxious because I didn’t know how the weekend would go. When I confided this to a priest, his advice to me was: “Go in clueless because then it’s the Lord.” I realized the wisdom in his response. I needed to focus on just being with the Lord and being present to whatever he wanted to give me during this retreat. Then, even if I didn’t have an “answer” about my vocation by the end of the retreat, I would have peace because I didn’t waste time trying to “figure it all out.” So during the retreat, I made a habit of noticing what the Lord was bringing to my mind and heart during the talks and prayer time without trying to draw specific conclusions. And then, without any striving on my part, he gently and clearly made known to me the designs of his heart.
Only when I take the time to know God in a personal way can I truly recognize the “sound” of his voice in my life.
Interpreting signs from God
As I alluded to, it has not always been this way for me. There have been times when I fell into the trap of almost “bargaining” with God to know his will clearly. On the other hand, I’ve also avoided asking God for anything and ignored the desires of my heart because, as I justified it, “I just want to do whatever God wants me to do.” In time, I began to see that this “I just” was coming from a place of fear — I didn’t want to get attached to what I thought I wanted in case God asked me to give it up. Oof. That was an uncomfortable but necessary realization. The truth is, God made my heart, and he has placed within my heart desires for good, true, and beautiful things. As long as I am allowing God to shape the desires of my heart, it follows that if my desires align with the good, the true, and the beautiful, those desires are from God! He wants those things for me, too.
Other common pitfalls when it comes to asking for or looking for signs are (1) thinking everything and anything could be a sign, and (2) fixating so much on the sign that we miss the other meaningful things happening in our midst. The only time I prayed the novena to St. Thérèse was when a friend asked me to pray it for her and her future husband leading up to their wedding day. I did not ask for a rose. I only prayed for my friends and their future life together. The day before their wedding, I went to my favorite adoration chapel, and as I stepped out of my car, I saw a single red rose that someone had placed before a vault of the mausoleum. I did not know if that rose was for them or for me, but I took a picture of it and prayed in thanksgiving for what I did not yet understand.
Noticing signs when they come allows us to rest in the Lord, whereas seeking out signs is more akin to grasping and striving. Am I more like Eve, grasping at something that isn’t for my good, or am I more like Mary, receiving God’s Word when it is made known to me? By being present to what is right before us — loving the people in our lives, spending time growing in our relationship with Christ, serving the Lord and his Church in the mission he has given us here and now — we create space for the Lord to reveal what he desires for us. God does not want us to be so caught up in looking for what he’s going to do that we miss what he is doing right now. This is where a daily practice of gratitude is helpful. When I take the time to notice how God is providing me with gifts today, I can better recognize his gifts in each moment and how he is revealing himself to me in these little signs of love. Instead of looking for fireworks, I can pause and delight in the flickers of the fireflies.
Noticing signs when they come allows us to rest in the Lord, whereas seeking out signs is more akin to grasping and striving.
Three ways to rest in God’s plan
So how do we rest in the present moment while also living in hope that God will reveal what he desires for us? One key is balancing hope with expectation. I can expect that God will give me a sign, but I should not expect that God’s sign will look the way I expect it to, or that he will answer my prayers in a certain way. This requires surrender and attentiveness to God’s grace at work in my daily life.
A second key is consistency. God is not inconsistent. He has given us his revelation in Scripture and the teachings of the Church. He is the same, “yesterday, today, and forever.” He will not ask of us anything that contradicts what he has already revealed in public revelation. This is where praying with Scripture and journaling help me; I can recognize patterns of the Lord’s action in salvation history, as well as in my own life, and in noticing these things, I become more familiar with how he is at work in me and around me day by day.
The third key is to always trust. This is easier said than done.
One of my favorite books is C.S. Lewis’ “The Silver Chair.” Early in the story, Aslan gives the following instructions to Jill Pole, one of the main characters. He tells her:
“But first, remember, remember, remember the signs. Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night. And whatever strange things may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the signs. And secondly I give you a warning. Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the signs and believe the signs. Nothing else matters.”
In the course of the story, Jill and her companions repeatedly fail to remember and follow the signs. Despite all of this, Aslan still works through their actions to save Narnia. As a disciple of Christ, this gives me great hope. Even when I misinterpret the Lord’s signs, he is still at work. He is not surprised or inhibited by my mistakes.
Therefore, be attentive, but do not be afraid. Remember what God has done in your life, and let it be a guide for how he is at work now. Step forward in confidence, knowing that the Lord has given you freedom as a gift to be used. And while you may not always understand his signs, remember that “the desire to please [him] does in fact please [him],” as Thomas Merton says in his Prayer of Abandonment. Simply surrender, listen, follow, and trust.