Coincidence (Oil Changes: Part Two)

This morning I find myself flabbergasted that I continually underestimate that God interacts with us in extremely personal ways.

In an earlier entry, I wrote about my spiritual “oil changes” or the longer times I spend with God, learning what He is currently teaching me. But I want to add a part two. I want to explain what I meant at the end about “re-clarify[ing] my perspective on a foundational level.” So here it is:

It is not only that those times with Him satisfy and sustain me, but they also remind me that the time spent at the table re-writing and reflecting is not only place I meet with God. I do not stand up at the end of my time and then leave His presence; He leaves the table with me.

It feels like God uses the time to first clean out all the junk that is clouding my perspective so that He can then tune up and sharpen all my senses. No wonder it takes a longer period of time, right?

When I leave with a renewed awareness of His continual presence, I start to see how everything around me is triggering the same exact message He was just teaching me when we sat at that table together… It’s just that before the “oil change” I was so bogged down with gunk and grime my eyes and ears were clogged and closed. I was blind to the obvious ways He is constantly reminding me, teaching me, and driving home the same message in a hundred different ways. So after His thorough cleaning, my day looks more like this running conversation:

“I am definitely seeing what you need me to get through my head, God.”

“Yep, God, got it.”

“Okay God, I see what you are doing here...”

“Well played, God.”

“You just worked that in extremely nicely, God.”

Sometimes I end up laughing at how practical God is. You have a moment of clarity with God and then turn on your music and the first song’s lyrics are basically a summary of what you were just wrestling through with Him. And then the second song is a different perspective on the same exact theme, and then the third…. "Okay wow… Are you controlling my phone right now God?" Or you go talk to a friend and they say something that is pretty much God speaking to you, and you think about how your friend is oblivious to the fact that the reason they used that exact wording was so that God could re-grab your attention. Or the quote someone posted on Instagram makes you think, "…seriously? What are the chances?" or something happens and you cannot help but think that it is a precise example of what He’s showing you need to remember.

Sometimes it is in the simple, the unnoticed, the forgotten, the overlooked, that we find the profound.

Or maybe you think I am just really good at reading into things and forcing connections when there really are not any. It is much safer to not claim so many things are directly connected to GOD's doing. It is a bold claim when we do. It can be kind of dangerous. After all, we might sound a little too much like a crazy spiritual person who is always trying to LOOK BEYOND like Professor Trelawney with frizzy hair and bug-eyed glasses from Harry Potter right? So where do we land?

“They are just coincidences.”

The truth is we are granted the Holy Spirit who is a constant cleaner of our senses. He clears, opens, and helps us SEE what God is doing, prompting us so we do not miss it. And yet instead of just verbalizing what we see to others, we default to disclaimers.

“It may be just a coincidence…” or “Maybe I am reading into things but…”

I agree that there is danger in just attaching God's authority and power to whatever is going on in our lives, but there is an equal danger in swinging to the other extreme and never speaking about God's presence in our lives.

I think “coincidence” is one of the most powerful and overlooked tools the devil has to try and disguise the ever-present, practical, personal, and profound ways that God chooses to interact with us. It’s a word that slowly blinds us to God’s presence and power. If we do not have the eyes to see God working in all the tiny little moments, we do not give Him the acknowledgement, the praise, the glory for them; and ultimately the devil wins.

It took me a while to land at this belief, but now, I am starting to try and rid my conversations of that deadly word and phrasing that is all centered around the lie of “coincidence”. As a result, I doubt myself less when I speak about God’s personal way of meeting me, no matter how crazy I might sound to someone.

I think that might be why He tells us over and over and over again to proclaim His works and deeds, to tell of them, to speak them, to shout them, to sing them. I think our mistake is believing that is only referring to massive, life-altering moments. We do not always read those verses and think that He could also be referring to the tiny, small, daily moments. But if He is the God the Bible declares, He must be there, in the hour by hour, second by second. He is working, doing, and acting far more than we can even imagine. So expect Him to do those things, look for them, and if you are still doubting it, maybe risk asking God to show you some examples.

God knows what YOU will notice, what others might miss.

So this morning I had to ask myself this: how do I, who already believes fully that God works this way with me, still miss so much of what God is doing?

Because it requires me to give TIME. To let Him reach down, re-clarify, and reopen my eyes, I have to realize that He gave me this day in order that I might give it back to Him. I need to sacrifice other activities, other focuses, and stop. I need to be still, quiet my soul, and let Him work in my deepest parts.

And you know what is crazy? He blows me away, every. single. time.

Every time I wonder why I did not come sooner.

. . . . .

The day after writing this our pastor was preaching on Romans 8:6-8 and was describing what it means to have the mind of Spirit. He specifically chose the word “unplug” to describe some of the habits and practical steps we can take that allow us to develop and grow into this new way of thinking. As he spoke, I could not help but think how that word helped sum up what I had been so struck with and written about just the day before…

“unplug”

…Giving up time, removing distractions, reading, thinking, and celebrating; truly unplugging in order to let the Spirit do its work in our hearts and minds, our souls. Coincidence that was embedded in the sermon hours after I struggled with words and descriptions for this same concept? I think not. I think God was providing me with one word to help summarize those times. “Unplugging.”

Thanks God, I’ll write that one in... In fact, I think I’ll let that be the closing to this whole idea.

And nice work giving it to me in the exact way I was describing. You’re pretty good, God…. You knew exactly when I would write this entry didn’t you? I like how you work.

#time