SCRIPTURE: Amos 3
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so? Does a lion roar in the thicket when it has no prey? Does it growl in its den when it has caught nothing? Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground when no bait is there? Does a trap spring up from the ground if it has not caught anything? When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? [Amos 3:3-6]
When you drive a car, it is important to be able to read the signs.
Not just the road signs, but also the visual clues from your surroundings – is a car swerving, is the road wet, flashing lights ahead, a cyclist riding erratically.
When people pay attention, they can figure things out ahead of time, or they can deduce what is going on behind the scenes – and act accordingly.
Amos is challenging the people to read the signs, and to figure it out.
Amos has to spell it out to the Israelites: all these troubles and wars and disasters, they are clues that God is angry, that you have stepped out of alignment with His will.
When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it? [Amos 3:6]
Pay attention folks, yells Amos, God is trying to tell you something.
God uses our circumstances to get our attention; He does not arbitrarily cause disasters just because He is angry, but He does allow them to happen.
But they are the natural consequences of our actions, and He finally allows us to experience them to get through to us.
Like the child who refuses to stop playing with fire, at some point the parent might allow them to experience a controlled ‘burn’.
At that point the child might complain, ‘why did you let me get hurt’, but the parent will say, ‘I warned you but you wouldn’t listen, this was the only way to get you to learn!’
The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. [Matthew 16:1-3]
Jesus experiences the same frustration – they read the weather signs, yet are ignorant of the spiritual signs – they do not see what God is up to behind the scenes.
All the signs and miracles were proof that God was up to something in Jesus, and here they ask for another sign (because they refuse to believe the earlier ones).
Today people still want God to prove Himself, to make it obvious.
But we are urged to pay attention to the obvious signs He is already showing us.
If we pay attention we see that life without God is a dead end, that resisting His will is self-defeating, that we need His mercy and help, and that Jesus’ way is the best way.
No more signs are needed, just pay attention.
What are the signs in your life pointing to?
PRAYER:
Lord, there are signs in my life that I need to make some changes… and yet I don’t. Help me to pay attention and do something about it. The signs are obvious!