Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Matthew 12:38-40

And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.

Luke 11:29-30

The most ironic thing about the Pharisees asking for sign that Jesus was the Messiah is that He had just performed miracles that only the Messiah could do! The Scribes and Pharisees refused to believe Who Jesus was and no miracle or sign was going to change their minds. How do we know this? Because God had clearly stated throughout the Old Testament what the Messiah would say and do. Jesus was doing these things, but they continued to refuse Him.

When we are seeking direction from God, it is not wrong to ask for Him to make it plain what we should do. However, many of the decisions we make in life have direct instruction in the word of God. That means we should not only pray for God’s guidance, we should look to the Bible for answers! If we do not read our Bible, we can conclude in our own minds that God is leading us in a particular direction because it seems easy. However, ease and comfort do not necessarily mean that God is blessing us. Remember, Jonah was in the belly of a ship before he was in the belly of the great fish! He thought he had escaped the command of God and was comfortable in his own decision. He slept but it was carnal security that gave him peace. Everyone else around him was in danger because of his decision!

A simple example will show us how this can be applied to our lives. When we look for a job, we should pray that God would help us, but we should also look to the Bible for direction. We are instructed in Hebrews, Chapter 10 to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together in public worship. If a job opportunity opens up that has us working every Sunday, that job did not come from the Lord. He will not violate His revealed will! Further, if a job opportunity is given to us in a location where there is no good church for us to attend, then there are two possibilities. 1. God is not directing us to go there. 2. God is expecting us to start a church there!

Bible study and godly counsel with fellow believers in addition to prayer is the best way to make any decision, large or small.

And remember, the handwriting on the wall that you may be looking for is normally not good news! Just ask Belshazzar (Daniel 5).