Kingdom Calling Blog…

I don’t know about you, but how often do we miss a sign we are looking for because it doesn’t look the way we were expecting? Maybe it isn’t the sign we wanted to see and perhaps we don’t like the direction it’s pointing in! Or maybe it’s so subtle that we keep missing it even though it’s coming up often but it’s not really grabbing our attention in the way it should. Or perhaps we’re not particularly looking for a sign at the moment and it would literally need to come and bite us on the bum for us to notice it!

Well if any of those resonate with you I want to reassure you that you’re not alone.

As humans we can so easily ignore signs!

In the natural what comes to mind is our health and I’m sure it’s not just me but you know how those little signs can come and show us where we need to see a doctor but we choose to push them to one side and try and ignore them because we don’t want to acknowledge that there could possibly be anything wrong. This is something that has happened in my life when the Lovely Mr B got ill with throat cancer-the signs were most definetly there. Praise God he came through that season and has now had the 5 year all clear.

We get signs in nature too and when I get in my car everyday I have noticed the tiny weeds poking their heads through the gravel around the driveway and think to myself-‘I should pull those out’. But then I get distracted by other things and think to myself I will get some weed killer for those as I notice them getting bigger day by day. When I got into the car today those tiny little weeds are now big plants that have flowered and the root systems have taken hold beneath the gravel and they will need digging out and it’s become a much bigger task that is going to take up lots of my time. If only I hadn’t ignored the first signs and just pulled them out when I first saw them.

As we walk out our lives with God He wants to talk to us and get our attention through signs in the natural that can often point to what is happening in the spirit. Every day God is speaking to us and the question is are we open and listening to Him and noticing the signs?

God can get our attention in so many ways and the list really is endless and we need to be a people that are ready to hear and then do something with what He’s saying/showing us. When God gives you a sign it’s an opportunity to be obedient and to lean in to follow the Holy Spirit as He gives you direction.

I have found that more often than not He doesn’t give you a map showing how to get from A to Z but it’s usually just the very next step you need to take. More like an A to B which means it’s always going to be a journey of trust. There is a reason that God communicates in this way and it causes us to have to lean in closer and spend more time listening so we know the next step to take. It’s always been His plan to draw us into a lifetime of relationship and intimacy.

The journey with God and trusting Him for direction is a little like finding a breadcrumb trail (anyone read Hansel and Gretel) and picking up each one and looking at it, examining it further and doing something with it until we see the next breadcrumb. As an adventurer at heart I love the way God leads like this although it’s obviously a bit scary when you don’t know where to step next but it’s always an invitation to grow closer with the Father and that’s always the best way to live.

If God gave us the whole picture straight away, how many know that we wouldn’t really need God’s daily guidance and would go straight into self reliance as we have all the directions we need and the destination and can just crack on with it. It would also be overwhelming I imagine, as God sees the beginning to the end of our journey and there is a fair bit of preparation for each step of it that He guides us through. If we saw the vastness of the plans He has for our lives we would probably run and hide and self doubt would overwhelm us at the ‘how’ but God in His kindness doesn’t want to overwhelm us and so reveals what we need to know as we need to know it. His plans for us are bigger than we could even imagine and they are good.

Jer 29:11-13 ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Sometimes a sign can confirm something we’ve been feeling deep down in our spirit as we start to acknowledge those stirrings within us that as yet we haven’t expressed or given language to. It turns out that sometimes the sign you didn’t know you needed can initiate a shift in a season as you find yourself coming into a period of transition. Watch for more of these signs that are beginning to confirm the inner stirrings you have been having and the unrest you feel as God may be getting ready to uproot you from your current pot. Maybe you’ve outgrown it or are feeling hemmed in by it. Maybe it’s transition to a completely different plot of land and He is moving you to a new place.

When things start to feel uncomfortable or like they no longer fit you, or maybe your passion for something has lost it’s fervour then these are internal signs to pay attention to. I heard someone say that when they are coming into a season of change that they feel in the natural that their bed is too small physically and have learnt to recognise that God is getting their attention that change is coming. Whatever the sign is start to pay close attention to it and start a dialogue with the Father and see what He starts to say/show you.

I pray that as you read this that it would be a signpost for you that you are looking for and that you would recognise it and take it to God as you start the next part of your adventure with Him and all that He has for you.