I am well known for my non-existent sense of direction. I can get lost in a closet. It is even harder to find my way in Honduras where there are no street names or addresses. Fortunately, I live close to the airport. I just look for a sign to the airport and soon, I am on my way home.
I am studying the Gospel of John right now. John doesn’t write about Jesus’ miracles, instead he writes about His signs. That got me thinking. Signs point you somewhere. The sign isn’t the destination. No, you follow the sign to get to the destination.
I got to thinking about situations I have called miracles, and, indeed they are. However, I wondered how I would think about them differently if I called them signs instead. A few days ago Suzy posted before/after picture of Alex Eduardo. Alex was 14 mos and weighed 11 pounds when he came to us and, the doctor said, was weeks from death from malnutrician.
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He is 4 now and doesn’t walk. He jumps! Everywhere! He is healthy, adorable, energetic, sometimes naughty, and full of life. The fact that we got him, how and when we did, and his recovery is a miracle. But what if we look at the same set of events as a sign? What is this sign pointing to? It points to life. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life,” exactly what a starving baby needed. Jesus, working through many people in Honduras and the US restored Alex’s life. Alleluia!
The other miracle that is harder for me to think about is Yarely. We prayed for the same miracle – the restoration of life that God granted Alex. Instead He gave her and us the miracle of resurrection surrounded by many tangible assurances that He was with us in our grief and that Yarely lives with Him forever.
Can we see Yarely’s death as a sign too? If so, where is it pointing? Again, it is pointing to life. This time, not physical life but, instead, spiritual life, the life Jesus came to give us — His physical life for our spiritual life. Alleluia.
