Signs from God

I don't really know exactly how God works. I have friends who believe he writes on the wall and tells you exactly what you need to do. I think God gives us choices, and people, and opportunities. But my friends' confidence in the clear, definitive "signs from God" makes me question my stance.

To add to my confusion, I think of when David is hiding in a cave while fleeing from Saul. Saul actually enters the cave and relieves himself. This is David's chance to go from being the hunted to the hunter! Saul is a sitting duck! But all David does is cut a corner from Saul's robe.

I think some would call this opportunity a sign. A direct sign that David should kill Saul. David, however, sees it as a test. He later tells Saul that he couldn't go against God and kill his anointed.

But again, this business of the signs and God's will. Where does that leave humans? On the one hand, we need to understand that God actively works in the world. Maybe he WILL give us definitive directions. On the other hand, we need to understand his principles as outlined in the Bible and know that God will never go against his nature or his principles. Even if we are presented with what we perceive to be a clear sign, if it contradicts who God is, it's not really a sign from God.

I don't really know how God works. I do know he works in "mysterious ways", and maybe that journey, the journey of trying to unravel the mystery, is the point.