Read the Signs
Here is a "blast from the past" updated for today...
Just got back from the grocery store. At the checkout, a sign was posted which read, "Cashback limit $100.00 per customer." Since I was buying only $65.00 in groceries, I said, "Well, since you are giving all your customers cash, I'll take my $35.00 and be done with it."
My cashier laughed.
Now, the sign at the grocery store was making a true statement, but my interpretation of the sign was wrong.
Every now and then, folks point to an unusual event as being a portent of the immediate return of Jesus or the onset of some horrible event.
Since I have a doctorate in Theology and have studied some of these signs in detail, I can—with great confidence—state: I DON'T know exactly what is all these signs mean. I DON’T know exactly what is going to happen or when it’s going to happen. I DO know God is displaying His power and glory to a world that really doesn’t want to pay much attention to what God is saying. I DO know that God is displaying signs all around us.
We've experienced several unusual astronomical events [remember the red moons? Jupiter’s unique position in the sky?] We are also in the midst of "wars and rumors" of wars. Various natural disasters--drought, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc.--are occurring more frequently and with greater intensity. Now our nation is in the midst of upheaval as an election approaches. Our confidence has been shaken, and people ask: what does it all mean?
Signs can be misinterpreted; my little adventure at the grocery store proves this. The various videos discussing unique astrological events and giving different interpretations of those signs confirm this. In the natural, all signs--like the signs on the highway--are posted to catch your attention and to provide you with information. The sign provides information and gives warnings; how you interpret and use that information is up to you.
You may see a sign advertising “fresh bear guts for sale” at a roadside stand and choose to stop and investigate or go elsewhere to shop. You may decide to run a stop sign or ignore the yellow sign and speed around a sharp curve. As I said, how you choose to respond to a sign is your decision, but there are consequences for ignoring these signs, and sometimes that consequence is severe.
God gives us information to tell us what lies AHEAD. God is sending you signs because He loves and cares for you, for God gives us signs to tell us what WILL happen, not just what is happening now. He gives us time to prepare for what WILL come. We need to pay attention to the signs! It’s time to stop procrastinating, clean out the trash in our lives, and reach out in love to help others.
As I am writing this, pictures are appearing in the news and online of the devastation that Hurricane Isaias caused along the coast of North Carolina. Among the wreckage, police and rescue workers are looking for the injured. Much of the island was not prepared for the massive storm surge that occurred because of the full moon and high tide that occurred at the time of the storm's impact. They missed the signs.
The same thing happened four years ago with even greater devastation. Four years ago, Hurrican Michael caused total devastation in the Panhandle region of Florida. Police and rescue workers then had the grim task of recovering the dead. The region surrounding what had been Mexico Beach, Florida, had been placed under mandatory evacuation; forecasters had recognized the signs of a monster storm surge approaching and urged folks to leave. However, it is known that almost 300 people refused to leave; they ignored the signs and did not listen to those who did understand the signs.
Are you paying attention? Are you looking and considering the signs, both natural and supernatural, that surround us? You may not remember the astrological sign that occurred back on September 23, 2017. You may not have to listen to hurricane alerts. You may not recall how many stop signs stand at the various intersections between your house and your grocery store. But you may wreck your car and ruin your own life and others if you don’t stop at the stop signs you encounter. You may destroy your own life [or the life of someone you love or even that of a stranger] if you ignore God’s signs.
It's time to look, to watch, to study the signs.
