when signs lie

Something happened earlier this week as I was driving.

I was traveling along and had just pulled to the side of the expressway to let a fire truck pass. However, as I started driving again, my son who was in the passenger seat asked, ‘Why are we driving so slow?’

This question puzzled me to a degree because I thought we were going at an adequate speed. Then I looked at the speedometer and realized it was reading zero. Instinctively, I started applying the brake. I think subconsciously, I wanted to make sure that I was not speeding.

Immediately, and for the rest of that trip, I started to gauge my speed based upon my feelings and the cars around me. It was twenty miles to get to where I was going. It felt like the longest ride ever. When I got to campus, turned the car off and restarted it, everything worked fine.

However, this little episode did two things: Stressed me out just a little bit and Got me thinking about the impact when signs lie.

Looking at the sign of the speedometer, my son and I came to two different conclusions – neither of which I believe were accurate. Seeing the needle on zero, he thought we were driving too slowly. And I – looking at the cars and working with a thorough knowledge of my tendency to have a bit of a ‘heavy foot’ – assumed I was likely going too fast. Both observations were based upon the signs we had available.

However, there are moments when you cannot use the signs because, they lie. We see this demonstrated within the kingdom of God quite a bit.

The Lord says in Isaiah 55:8-9, 'My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’ As such, the signs in His kingdom are often inconsistent with human reasoning.

Being poor, can be rich, going down is actually ascension; death is life; demotion results in promotion; standing still is moving forward and remaining silent, can speak volumes.

Joseph was thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, falsely accused of attempted rape and put in prison. And he might have concluded that he missed God’s message and had fallen out of favor – if he read those signs. But the signs lied. Everything that happened, which looked like the wrong thing, was the right thing to set him up for promotion to the second highest office in Egypt. (Genesis 37-41)

The nation of Israel sent spies over into their land of promise. They wanted to survey the land and get an estimation of what challenges stood before them. There were plenty of signs: clusters of grapes so large that they had to be carried on poles between two men and a land flowing with milk and honey. However there were also large fortified cities and giants. Ten of the twelve looked at the latter signs and slowed things down to a stop. They convinced themselves and all of Israel that it was an impossible situation. The good was too good to be true and the bad seemed insurmountable. But those signs of giants and fortified cities were lies – lies which convinced them that what they saw was more powerful than who they were and more powerful than the invisible but ever-present, all-knowing, all-mighty God. (Numbers 13-14)

Later – during Israel’s second attempt at entering their promised land - Rahab received a promise. After helping two spies, she was promised that she and her family would be rescued during the impending invasion by the Isaraelites. For six days they marched around the city. Yet no rescue came. On the seventh day, they marched around the city seven times and gave a mighty shout which caused the city walls to start falling. As those walls began to crumble, all the signs would seem to indicate that Rahab had been forgotten. But the signs lied. She was positioned for deliverance and ushered into a future she would never have imagined for herself. She was a textbook example for ‘being still and seeing the salvation of the LORD’ – even when the signs likely made her want to run and escape. (Joshua 2,6)

Why is all of this important?

If we do not understand that signs sometimes lie – we will react based upon what we see. We will speed up or slow down, and we might even come to a complete stop. This is dangerous.

We must stay in-step with God to ensure we remain in the center of His will. The estimation of our progress cannot be based on the signs or on how fast or slow someone else is traveling. It must be done through individual prayer, through study of His Word and through consistent application of His principles.

Once we know what His Word says and understand what His will is, we can stand or move in that truth, no matter what the signs appear to be telling us.

The signs say you have been defeated.
But God says that you a more than a conqueror in Christ! (Rom. 8:37)

The signs say you are losing everything.
But God says that He will supply every need! (Phil. 4:19)

The signs say it is an impossible situation.
But God says nothing is impossible with Him! (Matt. 19:26)

The signs say it is too hard for you to do.
But God says His Holy Spirit works in you to want and to do what pleases Him! (Phil. 2:13)

Understand that He who promised is faithful also to bring it to pass – no matter what your situation looks like. (Heb. 10:23)

I guess that is why God told us to walk by faith and not by sight!

I like what it says in the Amplified version of II Corinthians 5:7, ‘For we walk by faith [we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance.’

Keep your eyes on God – especially when signs lie!