For most of my life IT has been a very prominent feature. Information Technology has improved exponentially during the last few years, and we can get the information we are looking for at the touch of a few buttons. But we get loads of information without pressing buttons. Just look around you – it’s everywhere! I don’t know how many signs there are in the UK. It must be a huge number. Everywhere you look there is one in front of you, probably more than one.
During World War 2, the UK Government removed all the road signs so that if the Germans invaded they would get lost – or it would at the least slow down their advance. Can you imagine the chaos that would happen if they did that now? If every sign suddenly disappeared, there would be total disaster. Think about it – all the road signs, street signs gone in an instant! It would be OK for the locals, but others would get lost in no time. There would be jams as cars go the wrong way up one-way streets, accidents as drivers go straight across without giving way. Just imagine the house numbers being removed from people’s homes – how would you find anyone?
We take all these signs for granted, and our brains process them almost automatically.
Then Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt and called all the elders of Israel together. Aaron told them everything the Lord had told Moses, and Moses performed the miraculous signs as they watched. Then the people of Israel were convinced that the Lord had sent Moses and Aaron. When they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshipped. (Ex 4:29-31, NLT)
The miraculous signs which Moses performed were very impressive. He threw his staff to the ground, and it turned into a snake. Then he performed the now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t thing with the leprous hand. Then he turned water into blood. Even though Moses was really lacking in self-confidence, he caught everyone’s attention, and they were convinced that God had sent him to them. When he told them that the Lord was really concerned about them, they were in no doubt about it.
These weren’t just any old signs he showed them. They were impressive. They were convincing. They gave power and credibility to what Moses was saying. But earlier in the story Moses was saying to God, “Don’t send me. I’m no good at talking. Send somebody else.”
Like I said earlier, there are signs all over the place these days, and we process them automatically, sub-consciously. Not only that, we process them without question. If we are told to turn left, we do it, because we trust the sign, we have confidence in it. We know we need direction, and we take it.
So, here I am. A living sign. Or at least I should be! After all, I know the way, don’t I? I know that Christ is the way. I can show people the way out of slavery, just the same as Moses could show the Hebrews the way out. But I don’t have a magic stick, a trick hand, or blood-curdling water. But I do have miraculous signs – faith, hope and love.
The question is, can people see them? Are they standing out among all the other signs in this world of ours? Are they so visible and so convincing that people know that I have been sent by the Lord? Are they so powerful that when I tell people that God is really concerned about them they believe me and fall down and worship Him?
Just like that?