Rachel Starr Thomson

I was just posting more articles to LittleDozen.com, and I came across this one, written in 2002. This has been on my mind again lately… thought I’d share it with you.

I was born into a Christian home, and so many of the words of Jesus are familiar to me. They’re so familiar, in fact, that I often forget to listen to them. There’s a great temptation to take for granted that which is most precious, only because God has blessed us with an abundance of it. Perhaps this is true for you, too.

I can quote many of Jesus’ words in my sleep. “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.” “I have come that ye might have life, and that ye might have it more abundantly.”

But recently I was reading a portion of the Bible, and I stumbled across some words of Jesus that were not written in red. I did not expect them to be there, and they took me by surprise. They are in a prophecy, in the Book of Isaiah:

“Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion” (Isa. 8:18).

In that one verse I gained a whole new perspective of what exactly God is doing with us. When we think of signs and wonders, we tend to think of flashy miracles and supernatural phenomena—the fire from heaven sort of things. We talk about the miracles that Jesus did as being signs and wonders, and we overlook something very important. Jesus himself was the real sign. Jesus was the real wonder.

I’ve heard a lot recently about how God is moving around the world to confirm His word through signs and wonders. Christians are seeing the sick healed, the demon possessed delivered, and even the dead raised. All of this is true, and we ought to give glory to God for it. But let us not forget that our lives, our daily walks, are the real signs and wonders to the world around us.

In the book God’s Smuggler, Brother Andrew talks about working in a candy factory where he and a young Christian woman endured the mockery and contempt of a large staff of worldly, foul-mouthed young ladies. Together, the two Christians did their utmost to show love and respect to their co-workers. They prayed for them, talked kindly to them, and refused to lash out in anger. The result? One of the leaders among the factory workers was converted, and one by one the workers came to Christ. They started meeting together to pray and study the Bible, and in a place that had once been a haven of vanity, the praises of God began to ring out.

Nothing supernatural happened here, if what you’re looking for is something scientifically inexplicable. Yet, the greatest miracle of all did take place—lives were changed. The sign and wonder that brought about the change was the patience and forgiveness of two young Christians.

You may not think that your efforts to serve God in the little things matter, but they do. God will see to it that your faithfulness is used for His glory. He calls us to serve Him in everything we do, cheerfully, with our whole hearts. This is not only for our benefit, but also that the world around us may understand that we have something they do not. Our attitudes, our words, and our actions, are for a sign and a wonder to those we interact with.

Not one of the apostles decided to follow Jesus because He did a miracle for them. They followed Him because He called, and in His life they saw a chance for something more. He was pure, and loving, and zealous for God in a way that they had never known. The chance to be with Him was a chance for a new life.

God does use miracles and supernatural happenings to bring people to Him, but He is more likely to draw someone through what they see in your life. If what people see when they look at you gives them hope, then they will seek the reason that you are the way you are.

Whatever trials you may be facing, remember that they are not for you alone—the way you come through them will speak volumes to those watching.

Is your marriage on shaky ground? Stand on God’s word, and don’t give up hope—you are for a sign and a wonder to a broken world around you. Are your children in rebellion? Stand on the Word of God. Pray. Stay faithful to the call of God on your life. You are for a sign and for a wonder in a world that has given up hope.

Teenagers, are you tempted to rebel against your parents and follow the crowd? You, too, are for a sign and a wonder. Don’t cripple the rest of your generation by making their mistakes with them and taking away their only glimpse of something better. You are for a sign and a wonder to them, to show them a higher road.

Finally, are you living in a second-choice life, entangled in the consequences of bad choices made in the past? No one is in a better position then you are to show the world that they need not die where they have fallen. Cry out to God, and He will lift you up, higher then you could ever have thought possible. You, maybe more than anyone else, are for a sign and for a wonder to the house of Israel.

It is not easy to be a sign, because it means that you must be constantly under God’s hand—to be changed, chastised, and purified. But every step of the way will be worth it. Every part of the journey, though you go through fire and water and back through again, will yield a reward.

Do not expect everyone to understand. When the Holy Spirit came down on Pentecost, people accused the disciples of being drunk. When Jesus cast out demons, the Pharisees claimed that He did so by the Prince of demons. When the Son of God bowed His head on the cross and died, onlookers laughed. Many were blind, and they could not see what was happening in front of them.

But some did. Some opened their eyes. And today, some are looking for a new life…

“Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.”

At one time or another, we all find ourselves in circumstances beyond our control. Jobs are lost and once-stable finances reach a crisis point. Illness strikes. Churches lose sight of their vision and split into factions–and someone is always caught in the middle. Death comes.
And there is nothing we can do about it.

In crisis times, life becomes a complicated dance. We try to keep our feet in the path God has laid out for us, but His will isn’t always clear. We are stepping in the dark. God is a god of light, and He does not keep us in the dark forever, but the fact remains that we often “see through a glass darkly.” Things will become clear–later. For now, we are called to put our hand squarely in the Lord’s and step into the mirk, believing that He will lead in the right direction. My problem is that I don’t want to go where I can’t see. I have a strong aversion to walking in faith. I want to know exactly what God is thinking and doing every second, so that not one of my own movements will be risky. I am a believer in the common misconception that if I know God’s will, everything will go smoothly.

If you’re doing a mirky dance of your own, I have one piece of good news for you. I don’t know if God wants you to go east or west, spend money here or save it there, pray for recovery or for strength to be weak. Those things you must discover for yourself. Those are the minutae of God’s will–the specific steps that will lead you in the right direction.

But there is a broader will of God, one that applies to you and to me no matter where we are, and it is that will that I want to share with you. It’s written in the Bible, in black and white, where anyone can see it. Obedience to it in the dark times, I find, brings an amazing amount of light. In this article, I’m only going to deal with one aspect of this greater will of God, and I hope that it encourages you as it does me.

It is God’s will that we give thanks.

I’m not telling you that you must go leaping and skipping, strewing flowers in your wake, when you feel more like laying down to die. God does not ask us to manufacture emotions where there are none. God’s will is not necessarily that you feel thankful–it is that you give thanks. The giving of thanks is an act of obedience, a matter of the will. Anyone can do it. And because God is a merciful, loving God, who knows what it’s like to feel despondent and helpless (if you doubt it, read the Gospel accounts of Gethsemane), our act of thanksgiving is often followed by joy and peace, which are gifts of the Father and do not come out of our own strength.

“In everything give thanks,” Paul says, “for this is the will of God concerning you.”

Something almost mystical happens when we give thanks in times of trouble. We proclaim to the world, to the devil, and to ourselves that God is still in control, that we are still His children, and that He is still blessing us–no matter what it may look like. The beauty of this is that it’s true. He is in control. We are His children, and He is actively working everything for our good (Rom. 8:28).

When we choose to give thanks in a difficult situation, we choose to believe in God. We choose to believe in His promises. And because His promises are true, this choosing on our part brings light into darkness. Satan can do a great deal with a bitter heart. He can’t do a thing with a heart that stubbornly insists on blessing God when the world seems to be falling apart.
Witness Job, whose own wife told him to “curse God and die.” True, the Book of Job does not seem at first glance to be a shining example of thankfulness. Job spends much of the book lamenting. But on closer examination, the oldest piece of writing in the Bible reveals a heart that is dead-set on being thankful. True, Job is at a loss to find anything to bless God about in the ash heap where he sits. So, he looks for something he can be thankful for–and finds it in the past.
“The LORD gave,” he says, and how many beautiful memories are involved in that word “gave!” “The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21)

A remembrance of God’s faithfulness in days gone by not only gives us something to thank Him for, it also reminds us that the same faithfulness is working now, and we will see the fruit of it in the future. As Job declares, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and he shall stand on the earth in the last day.”

David also knew the secret of determined thankfulness. The shepherd king spent years on the run–from his king, from his conscience, from his son. Yet he continually exorts himself and his followers to bless the LORD. Psalm after psalm begins with an admonition to thankfulness. Here are the opening verses to Psalms 103-106:

“Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”
“Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.”
“O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.”
“Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever.”

Thanksgiving is one of the most powerful acts of faith we can possibly carry out. It is a grand announcement that our allegiance is fixed. It is a joyous defiance of Satan and all of his works. It is the singing of praises in prison that leads to the bursting of the prison doors (Acts 16:25). It is the simple reaching of a child to a Father who is there, and that Father has never failed to reach right back.

Whatever circumstances you face today, or tomorrow; whatever decisions you now pray and mull over, do not forget the greater will of God.

Shout blessings in the desert caves that hide you from your enemies.

Sing praises in the prison cells where life has beaten and shackled you.

Remember His faithfulness on the ash heap; look to His promises when you are most in pain.

Give thanks, people of God.

And know that your Redeemer lives.

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Read more devotional articles at www.LittleDozen.com, soon to be compiled as a hardbound book: Letters to a Samuel Generation: The Collection.