Mark 8 | Crossroads Daily

Hey, I'm Chuck, and I'm Jamie. I'm Chris, and thanks for being with us. We're looking at, oh man, there's just all so many good scriptures, but there's this whole thing about signs. Yeah, Jamie, what comes to mind when you think about the Pharisees looking for signs? I want to tell you that I'm like, I can't relate. I never look for signs. I just trust in my heart and operate that way. But I'm also like, there are times that I'm like, oh, I know these things to be true. But also like, God, do you want to drop a little hint? Can I, like it's me and Jamie, just waiting for a sign. So like, I just feel that wrestle of like, academically, I can truly believe and know like, what Jesus did, who he is, how he provides, how he's the bread of life. And I'm also like, this is hard. And what if I don't believe, or what if I don't feel it or understand it as deeply as I thought I did? And so like, my conviction, I don't want to say it wavers, but I do start to ask questions. Yeah. How do you think looking for signs can be a distraction for us, even as Christians? Like needing the miraculous or needing this, you know, the supernatural or like the, whatever it is, like, how do you think that can be a distraction for us? I think one way for me personally, it's just the, I think, you know, I'm trying to make the right decision. I'm trying to be like, influenced by the Spirit, or at least I know

like, when I'm making decisions, like, oh, I know what I should do. And I don't always make that choice. But I think sometimes I can get frozen from action because I'm like, okay, God, I just want to know for sure that this is the thing that you're asking me to do, or that this is the decision, or this is the thing that you have for me. And so I'm searching in all the places. And meanwhile, like, life is unfolding in front of me. And I just get so caught up and in my head that I miss out on what's really there for me. That's good. Yeah, it's, I think I've been crippled with so many decisions because I'm like, once I need God to part the clouds and give me a thumbs up toward everything. And, but that's almost how I think I want God to be with me, is that he gives me a clear answer that he's present with me. And maybe it's, I don't know, like I, the book you gave me, A Celebration of Discipline, I was reading it today. And he talks about how, and this was in like the 70s, that we're like the most materialistic time in history. Fast forward 50 years. It's like, I think I'm so used to, if I need a sign for anything, I can, I can find it in three seconds on my phone. And the fact that God doesn't operate that way, I think just messes with like the way my brain has been wired, that he needs to be material because everything else in my life is material. Yeah, that's so good. I think about the way that a sign can be a distraction for me. And there's an old song, we don't sing it anymore at Crossroads. We used to sing it.

It's called Whatever Pleases You. And there's a line that says, we will seek your face and not your hand. And I'm always so convicted by that. His face should be enough, right? And yet I'm like, but what's in your hand? Can you give me something that shows me that you're good? Can you give me this thing that I'm praying for? Like what's in your hand? And so I'm always convicted when I was and still am even thinking about it now. Like man, how many times is, am I saying to Jesus, your face and your presence isn't enough? Yeah, or I'm not even acknowledging it. Yeah, right. Like I'm just looking for your hand. I'm just like, what's the next thing, right? You know, and so I do think there's something there. And it is interesting, like the Pharisees. I mean, obviously, you know, these are people who most of them did not wind up believing in Jesus. Do you really think another... Jesus sighed deep in his spirit. Because I think he's really like, really? Really? If I give you a sign right now, really? And it's like, no, that probably wasn't going to change their hearts, you know? Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. There's just something about signs that can be, yeah.

And I think that probably shows what ultimately we're after. Like if all I'm looking for is signs, then I'm just looking for like, I'm making it about me and not maybe the things that God can give me. Like whether it's more bread or whether it's something else. I'm just like, okay, give me more evidence that you're good. And then I will like commit myself to you when he ultimately did that once. That's right. He died and raised for me to be in a relationship with him. Yeah, that's the evidence. And me looking for anything else is just, yeah, it's just, it's me at the end of the day, not trusting who he says he is. Yeah. I never thought about this before. This might be sick pastor humor, but something like Jesus saying, how many times does a guy need to die for you? Yeah. For you to know that I love you. That's true. One should be enough, right? Yeah. It should be. You know, how many times, even in the scripture today that we're reading, he says the only sign you're going to get is the sign of Jonah. And that's a prophetic statement that he's talking about his death and resurrection. He's saying you're going to get the sign of me going in a cave for three days and then coming out the other side with resurrection life for you. But will that be enough? I also think, I've learned this, you guys can test me on this theory.

I think there's a natural progression to someone's relationship with Jesus. And it makes a lot of sense to me, but it used to really frustrate me as a, you know, more mature or following Jesus long kind of person. If you are a new believer, I think you get tons of signs. I love spending time with new believers because like everything's popping for them in the Bible and their prayers are being answered. Like all this cool stuff is happening. And I used to be like, yeah, yeah, good for you, man, it hasn't happened for me in a long time. And I think part of it is just the natural progression of, I think you need that reassurance when you're early in your journey of faith. And at some point the call is to mature. You know, I mean, it'd be like, I mean, I've been married to my wife 24 years. It'd be like me saying, well, Maria, I need a love letter every day. I need a love letter. It's like, what, really? Like I'm still putting up with your crap 24 years later. Clearly I love you. Yeah, it's true. I guess I don't, you know? I think there's something there about as we mature in our journey with Jesus, not that we won't get signs, not that he doesn't still do miraculous things, not that things in the Bible don't pop for me that are fresh. I had one today. I talked about some of you guys, like it was, I hadn't seen that before. But I do think there's a level of like, Jesus, I have a track record with you of your faithfulness and your goodness. And I can trust that even in the times when I may not be hearing the new thing or experiencing the signs. I think that's a good thing for your faith to get to a point where it's not so dependent

on those kinds of things. Right. Can I push on it a little bit? Please, please. Could it also, or could it maybe be that it's not that the signs aren't there, but we need like bigger signs or deeper signs. And so like my brother-in-law, he just found Jesus. And I just heard the story at his wedding of like, when he went to ask my dad for my sister's hand in marriage, my dad was like, is Jesus the Lord and Savior of your life? And in the ceremony he goes, he is. And my dad was like, well now, but I remember praying that prayer with you in the parking lot and then to see the trajectory of his life since that conversation. And I'm like, oh, he's so in tune. And I don't know that it's that there aren't signs now for me, but I think it's because it's like not new or like I think about a child's curiosity and by the time we get older, it's not that we don't have the capacity for curiosity. It's that things have changed for us as adults. And so we're looking at things differently. So part of me is like, I don't know if the prayer is like, God help me recognize the signs more, more so than God give me a sign. I don't know. It's kind of in that. It could be either way. I love that. No, I love that. And I think in that is also just a self reflection for me is like, have I grown dull? Right? Yeah. Because we can grow dull to the things that God is doing. We can grow dull to the newness.

You know, we see that happen in relationships all the time where it's like, you know, you know, I'm sure we've seen people like, yeah, they're married still. On paper, you know, but like, there's not that whatever that spark is, it's all gone. I mean, and again, I'm not saying you're gonna be newlyweds for the rest of your life, but like, there is something about this. I think that's a good push to be like, hey, if we're not experiencing any signs, it is worth asking, is my heart open to what God is doing? Because God is always speaking. He is always moving. Yeah. Am I dull to that? I think that's a good push. And I feel like there's evidence baked into like Adam and Eve. They're given everything. And I don't know how long it took, maybe 30 seconds or a week, but they are just like, but what else is out there? Like what else can I, yeah, exactly. And I can be, I can get so jaded and bored of the same scripture over and over again. And it's like that, it's sad to kind of admit, but I can just be like, well, I've read this before. And like, God's, it's like, and I, I want the new thing. Oh, he fed 5,000. And I want it to be 20,000 people. And ultimately it's just me trying to fulfill parts of myself that just want stimulants and not like the true growth that comes, like the long, slow growth that comes from being faithful to Jesus. And I can just, I mean, I just want like a quick hit of something like, give me something. I think he's just too beautiful for that, that he would like succumb to like being a genie for us that can just pop in whenever he wants. Like there is, I've killed so many plants in my life because I've just like, I got

And I'm like, great, here's a gallon of water, because then it's going to look great tomorrow. And then it dies. I'm like, oh, that's not how that works. And, but I want things to be, I can just get bored so fast. And God is too beautiful for that. You said that twice. And that really is resonating with me. God is too beautiful for that, which means he's to be savored. And savoring by definition is not a quick process. You don't savor something quickly. It's the slowness of, I take in the scent, and I also enjoy the flavors, and I'm noticing the notes. When you're thinking about food or a piece of art, like I'm, or a piece of music, like, man, I love this song, right? This is my favorite part. Listen to how this crescendo, like when you're savoring something, there's this slowness to it, this intentional slowness to it. So I think there's something that you're speaking to there that's maybe a great place for us to land today around, man, we're all for signs. Like, may God give you a sign. May God give you a sign. And him, in and of who he is,

is enough to be savored for a lifetime and never plumb the depths of. And so maybe it'd be people who kind of live in that tension of, it's okay if we get a sign, but man, God, just you alone is worth savoring.