“When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
Judges 6:12 (NIV)
I often ask God to give me a sign that He is with me, that all will be okay, when I have to undertake a difficult task, a new responsibility, or have a new medical procedure to go through. Asking for a sign doesn’t indicate lack of faith.
God doesn’t have an ego that gets bruised if we ask for a sign. A sign may even increase our faith. So I looked at what scripture teaches on the subject.
The book of Judges was during a time period when the Israelite tribes were severely impoverished by the Midianites. They were destroying their crops, season after season, reducing them to utter poverty, until the Israelites cried out to God for help. God heard their cry and sent an angel to call the man He chose to lead Israel to victory over their oppressors.
The angel appeared to a young man named Gideon, and greeted him, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” At that moment, Gideon was in the middle of threshing wheat for his family. He never considered himself mighty, much less a warrior, and was alarmed to be addressed as such. Gideon considered himself to be a nobody. He was from the poorest of families, being the least promising one in his family, and was from the half tribe of Manasseh, the least among the tribes of Israel.
Yet, the Lord said to Gideon, “Go with the strength you have, and save Israel from the power of Midian. Is it not I who send you?”
(Judges 6:14)
Since Gideon was still insecure, he asked God to give him a sign, that He would be with him to accomplish the task. To make a long story short, God gave Gideon a sign, which involved instantly wetting a fleece that was dry, and then instantly drying it when it was wet.
Gideon felt confident with the sign God sent through the fleeces. He gathered a few hundred brave men and defeated the massive Midianite army of thousands. I decided that if God was willing to send a sign to Gideon, in His great compassion, He may also give us a sign if we ask for it. So I asked.
Prior to a scheduled epidural steroid injection in my spine for sciatic pain, I asked friends to pray for a successful injection, and I also prayed for God to give wisdom and skill to the neuroradiologist who gives the injection.
On the day of the injection, I thought of other times that God gave me signs. Recalling the story of Gideon, I believed that He could and would give me a sign. Before I left the house I said, “Lord, I ask for a sign that you are with me in this procedure, but even without a sign, I trust you anyway.”
While sitting in the waiting room of the department, watching patients being called into a room one by one, by different X-ray techs, I wondered if I would see anyone I know, since I’ve been retired for two years, and from a totally different department.
Finally, my name was called by an X-ray tech who was assigned to prepare me for the procedure. I looked up and it was Mohammad, someone I had worked with in the operating room for over 20 years. We were pleasantly surprised to see each other and met with a hug.
Of all the people who did X-rays in the operating room, there was not a person of more exceptional moral character, decency and kindness, than Mohammad. He is such a good man, that I used to be moved by maternal instinct, to pray that God would send him a wife.
In realizing how God’s perfect timing lined me up on the exact day, at the precise time, with him, who was sent to prepare me for my injection, I knew in my heart, this was the sign from God that He is with me.
Any other X- ray tech would have been capable, but it would not have been a sign from God. The Lord sent Mohammad, who I not only knew and worked with for many years, but someone whose character I always admired. That was my sign.
God is with us whether we get a sign or not, but when He sends us a sign, it’s a gift. His signs usually involve people, timing and places that all come together at a special moment, if we are aware of it. My pain is already decreased and I am having better nights of sleep without pain.
As we pray and trust, like Gideon, we go in the strength we have, and God is always with us. He will walk with us through any task, and since He is a good Father, He always hears us and gives His children the sign we need, when we ask for it.
Lord, help us to see ourselves as you see us. Give us a sign so we be mighty warriors through our prayer, faith, acts of kindness and in reflecting your love to others.
Amen
