Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)
One day many years ago I found myself under a tremendous amount of stress. I had recently read a similar story in a book. The author explained that after checking into the hotel, she went to the pool to relax before her speaking engagement that evening.
She was feeling exhausted and prayed to God to show her a sign that he was with her. The sign she asked for was seeing a ladybug near her path before the evening. When she went into the pool for a short time of relaxation, all of a sudden there was a ladybug on the water riding on the pool waves right in front of her.
That lingered in my mind. I made my own request to the Lord that morning. I asked God to show me that he was with me. The confirmation I asked for was a yellow butterfly.
I got ready for work and showed up at the job site to meet with my client. The home project was coming out great. As with any home construction, there are a myriad of details and sometimes unplanned challenges that pop up out of nowhere. And you just gotta deal with them.
While I was meeting with my client and my project manager, out of now where there came a cluster of beautiful yellow butterflies that made their way toward me and encircled me spinning themselves around me as a magic wand!
What a sight that was! Immediately I gave my camera to my project manager to take pictures. He followed the massive cluster of butterflies and took pictures. Unfortunately, my car was broken into a few weeks later and the camera was gone.
The memory of that experience is forever etched in my mind. It is personal. It was my heavenly Father’s direct answer to my prayer. It was a simple prayer. And he came through to confirm, prove, and affirm that he was with me and I was not alone.
Years later, my younger daughter, Nathalia, would make a similar request. She was in her junior year of high school. At that time, she was taking a speech and violin classes at a homeschool community near our home on Mondays. When school was over, we would go to a secluded parking lot to give her driving lessons.
Nathalia was in a season of choosing a career path. She was unsure which path to take. It was important for her to have an idea as that would determine which dual credit courses to take that would transfer to her college of choice.
Her sister recommended to take some online tests to see what kind of career paths matched with her personality type. Counseling kept popping up. To be sure that this is the path the Lord would have her take, Nathalia asked God for a sign. I later learned what it was. She asked for God to show her a yellow butterfly before 4:00 o’clock the following afternoon.
That Monday afternoon we went on our usual driving lesson location. We would normally arrive around 3:30ish. As she did her second round on the parking lot, a yellow butterfly appeared flying across the windshield. I did NOT know about her request. When I saw the butterfly, I said, “Look Nati, a yellow butterfly!”
She stopped the car immediately and with a huge smile said to me, “That’s it! I know what I’m supposed to do!” She was in shock and could not believe it.
That’s when she explained to me about her prayer the previous day!
God answers prayer. He does not mind us asking for a sign as Gideon did! (Judges 6:33-40)
God loves to hear from us.
What sign do you dare to ask God for?
