Small Signs Can Point to Sudden Fulfillment

Sometimes you have prayed, believed God, spoken His Word, and still you see no movement. You look once. Nothing. You look again. Still nothing. The question is, what will you do when the first little sign finally appears?

What should I do when I see the first sign God is moving?

When you see the first movement, recognize it and respond in faith instead of dismissing it because it looks small. David learned to wait for movement before advancing against the Philistines.

He needed to know that he knew he was going to win. God told him to go fight, but David still needed something that would show him when to move.

In 2 Samuel 5:24, God told him, “When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly.” That sound was movement. It was the signal David was waiting for.

I said it this way: motion brings promotion. Look at a plant sitting there without wind. It is motionless. But when the wind begins to blow, you see movement.

Some of us move into things without motion. But there are times when God wants you to recognize the signal He has given you and then move.

Why does God sometimes show me something small first?

Sometimes God shows you something little to see how you are going to respond with your faith. Elijah's experience shows us what it looks like to keep looking when nothing seems to be happening.

Elijah had said there would be no rain for three and a half years. When the time came, he sent his servant to look.

One time. No movement.

Two times. No movement.

Three times. No movement. Four times. Five times. Still no movement.

Does that sound familiar? You have prayed and said, “God, I have been asking You for this.” You spoke the Word, but you still do not see what you have been believing for.

Then the servant came back with something different. He saw movement. He saw a cloud the size of a man's hand.

That was little, but Elijah did not treat it like it was nothing. He heard the sound of abundance of rain.

Maybe you asked God for a hundred dollars and one dollar showed up. What are you going to do with that? You can complain that it is not enough, or you can say, “Lord, thank You. Now I know it is going to happen.”

That is the response of faith I am talking about.

How do I keep believing when nothing seems to change?

Keep looking, keep remembering what God spoke, and do not let repeated periods of no movement make you abandon your faith. Elijah did not stop because the servant came back without a sign the first time.

We have a tendency to say, “I went to God one time, and there was no movement. I went two times, and there was no movement.” Then discouragement starts talking.

But what happened with Elijah? Eventually there was motion.

Let me tell you something. Look and see what you are seeing. When you see something natural, see what that movement means for what you have been believing God for.

You may only see a little cloud. Do not despise the fact that it is little. Recognize that something has changed.

That little movement was enough for Elijah to tell Ahab to get moving. Elijah responded to what he saw because he was expecting what had been spoken.

Can God fulfill something suddenly after a long wait?

Yes, something can seem delayed and then happen suddenly, so do not mistake waiting for the end of what God spoke. I told the church, “God is a God of the suddenly.”

There are things God has spoken that you need to remember. Write them down. I have a notebook where I write things God gives me in prayer, along with the dates.

Some things are not for this time. There is a time to speak them. But when God has spoken, do not sit there and forget what was said.

Stir it up. Speak it. Remember it.

There may have been no movement the first time you looked. Or the second. Or the fifth. Then comes that little cloud.

Recognize the movement.

Your first sign may not look like the abundance you have been believing for. But when movement comes, let it strengthen your faith rather than weaken it. Keep believing, because what seemed like it could not come can come suddenly.