Focus

Experience silence in the midst of your busy day. Take some time to relax into a time to be with God.

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Read

Matthew 12:38-42 (NRSV)

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth. The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here! The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!

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Reflect

How easy it is to ask for a sign before committing to trust in something. For the past two weeks, my aunt has been in the hospital fighting a variety of health issues. She is still very sick, but appears to be recovering slowly. It is so tempting to ask God for signs that my aunt will be okay.

I have been a chaplain for over a decade, specializing in oncology patients. I have held the hands of family members as they grieved over their loved ones. I have sung praises to God with family members when they received good news. Now it is my turn to be the family member praying to God, looking for anything I can take as a sign that my aunt is going to be okay.

Signs are wonderful, but they are only what our brains can conceive and understand, which limits the boundaries in which God can work. To believe is to acknowledge that the impossible is possible beyond measure.

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Pray

O, Lord, I know that your limits are without boundaries, that the impossible is possible. May I be reminded that belief is deeper and wider than any sign can show. Amen.

Go with God.