Writing some years ago about finding the will of God, I made some fairly direct statements about the danger of relying too heavily on signs and wonders. Some people wondered if I really believed that God works in our world.
I do. What I don’t believe is that just because something unusual happens it necessarily tells me much about the will of God.
For example, today I climbed onto an airplane. Now normally what you find in the seat pocket includes a publication on the safety features of the plan, the airline magazine, and a Skymall Catalogue. The only thing that changes is the accumulation of garbage from the previous flight — plastic bags, French fry containers, hamburger wrappers, and discarded gum wrappers.
But today someone left behind a copy of The Robb Report, a magazine devoted to tracking the top ten toys of the year. Wrist watches for $90,000, $5000 cigars, and the latest four door Bentley. What I cannot and do not conclude from this unusual bit occurrence is that God wants me to buy some or all of what is in this magazine. Determining the will of God involves asking important questions:
What does God value?
What is the work of God?
What does the work of God say about the purpose of my life?
Where and how has God been moving in the world around me, in my life?
What choices will draw me closer to God and to others?
What choices will align my life with the movement of God in the world around me?
Questions of that kind help me to triage the events in my life.
Some choices contribute in an active fashion to the work of God in my life. Some do not. Others are neutral. And some choices are just exotic things I can’t afford.
If God were trying to tell you that, then you should subsequently be witnessing the miracle of finding a lot more money in your bank account! Probably not going to happen.
On a more serious note, you’re questions are important, and on the money (so to speak!). Not everything is insignificant or merely coincidental, but we can’t start reading God into everything. God’s simply not going to move us to do something sinful, or something which jeopardizes our physical or spiritual well-being, no matter how unusual or unlikely a given experience is. In short, the miraculous requires discernment every bit as much as the ordinary.
Thanks for a helpful reflection.
Mark, thanks for the helpful response. You’ve outlined some important criteria for discernment. It’s ironic, isn’t it — or perhaps spiritually inevitable — that our desire to do what we want to do reasserts itself even in our spiritual lives, co-opting God as the one who authorizes rather than shapes our choices.