Hearing God Through Circumstances
Have you ever had what seemed to be a divine appointment, a time when circumstances appeared to be too coincidental to not be providential, a time when it seemed that the Lord was speaking to you through the ordinary conversation of a person?
I had been in a very great deal of pain for four straight days from a head-neck-jaw- shoulder ache that was resistive to every kind of medication that I had taken. As I sat on the couch that next morning pondering another day of pain, my wife shared a thought: get outside for some fresh air and walk down the street for some exercise. I hadn’t shuffled more than 50 yards when a neighbor rode up on his bike. He talked to me about how exercising helped him feel better. Since he was about my age, I was especially attentive to his message as it seemed to work for him. We talked for about 4 blocks. I wasn’t shuffling anymore. I was walking. I was feeling better. In fact, I decided to walk some more. It renewed my interest in exercising again after a lay-off of about a month. The conversation reminded me that I had felt better when I had been regularly exercising.
I had only planned on shuffling down the block for ten minutes or so. It was a narrow window but the Lord sent our neighbor out on a bike ride at the same time, going my direction, with a prompting to talk to me about his positive experience with exercise. It seemed that the Lord was speaking to me through him. I began to feel better and felt better all week. I began exercising again. My hope and joy revived. I wasn’t as discouraged.
What divine appointment might the Lord have for us today? Will we listen in case He is trying to speak to us through an apparently ordinary conversation?
Hebrews 3:7-8 exhorts us, “Today when you hear His voice, do not be slow to respond.” May we realize that He does speak to us and not only be careful to listen but willing to respond. There are no coincidences (Proverbs 16:33). He will work with even a small window of opportunity if we will let Him.
When God wants a couple or family to alter course, the revelation is normally clear.