“The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus.  To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven.  He sighed deeply and said, ‘Why does this generation ask for a sign?  Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.’  Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side” (Mark 8:11-13 NIV).

The context of this paragraph makes asking for a sign from heaven seem quite ridiculous.  Jesus had just fed four thousand men plus women and children with seven loaves of bread.  A little earlier he had fed five thousand men plus women and children with five loaves of bread and two fish.  These miracles are reminiscent of the miraculous years of Israel being fed manna in the wilderness (Exod 16; Num 11).  These events were clearly signs from heaven.

It is actually quite easy to fall into the trap of looking for perpetual signs from heaven.  One of the ways in which I have been guilty of asking for a sign is in expecting that there would be a continual audible voice from God to direct my steps.  Yet this is not the case even in the life of Jesus.  At his baptism Jesus heard the voice of the Father saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”  But immediately after that Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit.  There he was tempted by the devil, who tried to make him disbelieve his divine sonship.  Jesus did not accept that he needed a sign to prove that what he had heard at his baptism was true.  He refused to test God by jumping off the temple.  Instead he simply trusted in the word given to him at his baptism.

There are a few instances recorded in the Gospels when Jesus heard the voice of God audibly.  Most of the time he appears to have taken the scriptures as the template for his ministry.  Most of the time in life there is no direct word of instruction or direction from the Holy Spirit.  Once a direction is given it is often not repeated.  We need to act out of what we know by being obedient to what has been given.  When no direct word has been given, the scripture is our template for life, giving the meaning and purpose to what we must be doing.  There is no justification for demanding that God speak directly on every single issue in life.  His word stands as given.  It is a gift which needs to be treasured and read over and over, so that we can live life according to his will.