Signs, signs, everywhere the signs.

Have you ever been mulling something over in your head, only to have life drop the answer right in your lap? You can call it what you want - fate, the Holy Spirit, kismet, serendipity, whatever. I've definitely had this happen before, and the most notable of these instances come in the context of life saying "yep, you're on the right track." What's more difficult though, are the times when the answer is "stupid, how could you ever have thought of doing THAT!?!?"

I mean, if you're thinking about doing something, and then life drops the path to do it or some other reassurance in your lap, its a simple answer - the universe is confirming that you're in the right place at the right time. (Editor's note: if this all sounds very new age for a Christian, see my earlier post re: New Age spirituality.) But, when the answer seems to contradict what we're thinking/feeling, this is harder for us to accept. Why is that?

Is it because we're stubborn humans who refuse to believe that what we want, when we want it, is incorrect? I think what is more likely is the whole uncertainty of it all. Let me paint an example of something that recently happened, which I fully admit is trite and meaningless. But, you didn't think I was going to detail my innermost pending decisions did you?

So, in the past few weeks, there have been a couple of times that I wanted to get fast food. I try to eat as little fast food as possible, but am a horrible failure at this task. So, like many who are trying to restrain themselves, I make up excuses for why I need it or why it makes sense for me to eat fast food. Nevertheless, in both situations as I had just talked myself into doing it, I had critical failures that prevented me for doing so - in one instance I forgot my wallet; in the other, my car wouldn't start. Not long after the second instance I decided that God was preventing me from doing what I knew I shouldn't be doing - indulging in high-calorie junk.

So, this example is obviously not very life-changing. But, it shows how easy it can be to say "this isn't a sign; it's a coincidence." In fact, when my car couldn't start, I promptly found someone to jump me so I could disobey God's command against eating fast food, and went straight to Taco Bell.

But, what do you do when a sign presents itself that is in opposition to a life decision that is greater than choosing to eat more healthfully? Do you listen? Do you ignore? How do you know the difference between a sign and a coincidence? I tend to live by the philosophy that if I'm at all hesitant about something, then I shouldn't do it. In that case, I tend to see "signs" as either a signal from God or just my mind creating a more clear excuse to prevent me from doing something that I subconsciously know I don't want to do anyway.

In any case, if I haven't confused you all by now, I welcome your thoughts! How do YOU distinguish between a sign and a coincidence?