Called to Be - Discovering Purpose

Finally, one day, my pastor suggested that I ask God to provide me with the answer I was seeking. He advised, “Ask God to give you a sign to verify that He wants you to preach. Don’t tell me what your sign is, but share it privately with God. Just go to the Lord.” I recalled Gideon had requested several signs from God to verify God’s direction for his life. One such case appears in Judges 6:11-24 involving an angel of God who caused fire to spring out of a rock, thereby consuming Gideon’s offering. Another case appears in Judges 6:36-40 in which Gideon used fleece of wool twice to confirm God’s desires for his life. It was God’s desire that Gideon would deliver his people from their oppressors. In fact, an angel sent by God declared Gideon to be a mighty man of valor (Judges 6:12). Despite Gideon’s apprehensions, God’s decree came true. Gideon’s army, although greatly outnumbered, triumphed over the enemy in miraculous ways.

God confirmed his calling of Gideon, and God could do likewise for me. God had used signs and wonders to confirm His will for other biblical characters as well. I believed God could certainly do this for me, too. And so I asked for a specific sign too incredible to be manmade. I prayed numerous times. Several months passed by and there was no confirming sign. My pastor was so surprised that I had not heard anything yet. So, he suggested that I indicate a specific time frame that I wanted to hear from God. He surmised this would be better than praying an open-ended prayer that might result in waiting forever. I did as he instructed. Soon I began to notice strange things. The sign or symbol I requested appeared in a manner that was different than the manner I requested. More prayer led to other occurrences, but none were identical to the requested scenario. For example, a similar symbol appeared on the shower’s glass door. Debbie complained of repeated failures when attempting to scrub away the white stain. Another occurrence involved a flight to Philadelphia. When soaring high in the sky, I peered out the airplane window and noticed the beautiful landscape. The scenery was a plush, brilliant green. I was amazed to see my requested symbol formed by the intersecting tree lines and roadways. However, it did not appear in the manner I asked to see it. In yet another incident, I saw the sign upside down in a cloud bank. Neither of these occurrences was exactly as I requested. Certainly, God has the power to manifest the sign per the exact details I requested. Therefore, I would not accept the previous attempts as valid confirmation. As you might imagine, I became quite frustrated. My pastor’s frequent, ongoing inquiries only added to my frustrations ...   

The dullest road in the United States is likely highway FM1960. It is a straight, narrow road through colorless, flat, unattractive landscape for as far as the eye can see. However, I was anything but bored. With music blaring, feet tapping, and head rocking, I was thankful that no one could hear me singing loudly off key. My voice cracked as I accompanied powerfully anointed, soul-stirring songs of praise.

Amid the driving and singing, I began marveling at the cloud formations. They were billowy, huge, but not clumped together. The sky consisted of large patches of blue dotted with oversized floating cotton balls. I thought to myself, “Lord, this would be an excellent day to see my sign.” The weather conditions seemed perfect. There was little wind and the clouds seem to hang motionless in the sky. I continued driving and singing while marveling at the clouds. About three-quarters of the distance to my destination, I fancied a particular cloud formation on my left. I said, “Wow, that looks like the head of a fish.” As I drove, I continued glancing to my left to confirm my discovery. I could only see a portion of the cloud formation, because the rest of it was somewhat behind me. I was determined to see the full formation. When it was safe to do so, I leaned forward and glanced over my left shoulder to see the full formation. I gasped, “It even has the tail of a fish.” This fish-shaped cloud appeared to be several car lengths long and hung low in the sky. A thought flashed: “Lord, are you inviting me to be a fisher of men?” I was reminded of Mark 1:17, which states, “And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.” But, as spectacular as this cloud was, it was not the sign I had prayed to see.

Approximately five minutes or so later, there it was, MY SIGN. It was large, LARGE, L-A-R-G-E. It floated isolated from the other clouds. It was on the same side of the car as the giant fish.