Do You Want a Sign From God?

Have you ever felt like the Lord was nudging you to pay attention to something in particular? It was a foreign experience to me, and it took months of trying to figure out if the diversion really was from the Lord—but once I determined it was indeed from the Lord, I was in for quite an adventure.

My days as a real estate agent were busy driving to my office and then from one property to another, meeting clients, and making many trips to the hardware store. Nearly every day, I traveled on the interstate between Virginia Beach and neighboring cities. I’d done this for over a dozen years. But in 2004, when I passed a particular university that is easily seen from the interstate, I was repeatedly drawn to keep it in my mind. This went on for months. So, I began to question God about it.

“Why am I paying so much attention to Regent University, Lord? Is this from you?” As days passed, I felt that God was behind this, but I didn’t want to assume I knew for sure. So, I took a baby step and browsed the school’s website. I listened to videos from various departments and the draw grew stronger. I saw that a preview weekend was coming up and I told God, “I’ll go to this preview weekend. But I don’t know why.”

I didn’t want to take any steps toward responding to this if it wasn’t from the Lord. I meditated on His Word and prayed about it, but I didn’t know how to be certain.

In Judges 6, Gideon was visited by the angel of the Lord, who told him that God was sending him to rescue Israel from the Midianites. Gideon did not hop up and say he’d be taking care of that right away. He needed lots of assurance that God was with him and that this was truly God’s request. He asked for confirmation.

Then Gideon said to God, "If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, prove it to me in this way. I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised." And that is just what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out a whole bowlful of water.

Then Gideon said to God, "Please don't be angry with me, but let me make one more request. Let me use the fleece for one more test. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew." So that night God did as Gideon asked. The fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew. (Judges 6:36-40 NLT)

Merciful and patient is our God who confirmed His message to Gideon. And at that, Gideon was on board and carried out numerous directions from the Lord to lead the Israelites into victorious battle.

Preview weekend was similar for me. I went out of obedience to the confirmation I’d gotten so far, but I needed more to go any further—I needed Gideon’s fleece. As I sat in the company of a dozen or so other curious attendees in the journalism lab, we listened to the dean’s presentation. And as he discussed the graduate program, an amazing thing happened: The Holy Spirit washed over me. That’s the best way I can describe that experience. It felt like a wave of pure awe and warmth went right through me from head to toe, and I recognized His confirming touch. The tears began to billow up in my eyes, and I knew I was in God’s will to go back to school for a master’s degree in communications.

There were more fleece moments from that day forward to get me all the way enrolled and in a classroom a year later. But each step of the way, I kept getting confirmation. I had a simple message I believed was from the Lord that carried me through all my fears and doubts about finances and abilities: “You’ll be paid for working with words.” It was vague and I had friends and colleagues who thought I’d taken leave of my senses. But I knew I was in God’s will.

As I write this, I’ve been paid for working with words for nearly 15 years. God is faithful. What about you? Is there something you think God wants you to do, but you’re not sure? It may or may not be as dramatic as changing careers, but whatever it is, if He’s behind it, it’s worth it. Get your fleece ready and find out!

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Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.