When I was in my internship in the Atlanta area – now several years ago, I went to the doctor for a routine check- up.  I was so shocked when they called me back in and told me I would need to see a kidney specialist.  To make a long story, short – the specialist gave me a diagnosis of stage 3 chronic kidney disease.  I was told I would only get worse, not better.  It would just be a matter of time and at what rate I would eventually need a kidney transplant.  I was devastated. I asked God to give me a sign as to whether I should continue the trajectory of becoming a pastor. I asked God to answer my prayer as to what was God’s will for me.

In the Book of Judges, Gideon is now leading the Israelites and they are fighting for their territory and the land that God has promised them.  It’s hard to say from the text, but I am wondering if Gideon is nervous and even afraid because he goes to God and says, “In order to see whether you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said, I am going to lay a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said” (Judges 6:36).

Jesus says, “If in my name you ask for anything, I will do it” (John 14:14). God wanted to deliver the Israelites into the hands of Gideon and so God answered Gideon’s request.  God made the wool fleece damp enough so that Gideon could literally wring the water from it. And, to make sure he understood God’s answer, he asked a second time except the other way around – the fleece to be dry in the morning, but the ground wet. And, God responded. In fact, God guided Gideon and gave him specific instructions from that point forward.

I continued to be tested for the failing of my kidneys. After several months of my kidneys revealing stage 3 chronic kidney disease, I get a call from the nurse to give me my results from the last test.  She asked me if I was sitting down.  She then told me that my test came back completely normal.  God had answered my prayer.  I knew that I was to continue the path to become a pastor and proclaim the Word of God.

I believe with all my heart that when we are pursuing the work of the Lord, God will guide us and give us what we need.  What might you be pursuing that clarification of God’s will may be needed?  Ask God to answer your prayer.

Let us pray…Gracious God, sometimes we need a sign as to how you would want us to move forward in your Name.  Guide us and lead us just as you did for all the prophets so many years ago.  In your name, we pray…Amen.