Coincidence or God incidents?

In May 2013 I received a large unexpected bill that was due to be paid in full June 30. God had recently blessed me with a better paying job, but as a single mom and homeowner I had not yet reached a point of being able to save up money for unexpected bills.

As I stood in my kitchen, I stared down at the bill and began to worry. Then the Holy Spirit whispered to my spirit saying, "Give it to God." That pulled my mind off the all too familiar "worry trail." While still holding the bill in my hands, I spoke out loud, "God, I believe you're going to provide the finances I need to pay this bill. You've provided for all of my needs so far and I trust that you will continue to do so." I put the bill down and walked away.

On June 10 I noticed that almost the exact amount of money I needed to pay that bill had been deposited into my account. It was my income tax refund, but normally I never receive a refund. It turned out that there were mistakes in my two previous years of income tax returns. Some people might call this "coincidence," but I immediately recognized it as a "God incident." 

Not convinced? I have one more story. In the middle of July I found some lumps on my dog Jezabell's chest. I found out they were mammary tumors (breast cancer) which is common with intact dogs. When I received the estimate for surgery, I gasped. 

A few days later I was weeding in my garden and asking God to provide a way to pay for Jezabell's upcoming surgery. I told him I trusted Him to provide as He always had. I thanked Him for that and for the most recent provision when he provided the funds I needed for the last large bill the month prior. 

Minutes later my friend showed up and told me his friend suggested I try his vet. I gave him a call. He sounded very knowledgeable. He put my mind at ease as he reassured me that it would be a simple surgery. That was a major relief compared to the conversation I had with the first vet who instilled fear in me as they repeatedly went over worst case scenarios and the costs associated with it. 

On July 23 Jezabell had successful surgery and when the vet found out who referred me he gave me an even better price on his already very reasonable price. Four days prior I had checked my bank account and found a child tax deposit that was more than double its usual amount. When I subtracted the usual amount from the total amount, the amount remaining was within $8 of the cost of the vet bill. 

I believe there are two reasons for God's perfectly timed provision:
1)  I have become a faithful tither, giving a portion of my income back to God Who has provided me with this income.

Malachi 3:10

New Living Translation (NLT)

10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!

2)  When I was tempted to worry I stopped and instead chose to verbally thank Him for the ways He had already provided and then I spoke positively about my trust in His ability to continue to provide. 

Philippians 4:6

New Living Translation (NLT)

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

Philippians 4:19

New Living Translation (NLT)

19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

In the message God gave to the people through Malachi regarding tithing He said, "Try it! Put me to the test!" Since I started tithing, I have seen how God has opened the windows of heaven and poured out His blessing on my life. I put Him to the test and He passed with flying colors. I think it is important for me to mention here that I did not begin tithing so that I could get something from Him, I did so out of obedience and my love for Him.

Unconditional Love Dissolves Walls of Distrust

I have a friend who had a Cockatiel. He knew the bird had "trust issues" when he bought her, but that didn't stop him from loving her. Her name was Babe. He later discovered that she had been abused by being hand slapped and, rightfully so, she didn't trust humans. Her experience with them so far in her life was that they were unpredictable and they hurt you and therefore they cannot be trusted. 

My friend continuously and tirelessly loved Babe unconditionally. He spoke lovingly to her and he was patient and kind at all times. She continued to reject his love and at one point she even bit him so hard she pierced right through his skin. I can't remember if it was on his nose or his ear or someplace else, but you better believe that it smarted. Although she hurt him he maintained his vigilance and continued to patiently and unconditionally love her and draw her closer to him. 

After consistently and unconditionally loving Babe for 5 months my friend had successfully managed to breakdown the wall of distrust and gain both her trust and her love. She would now come to him, stand on his finger, bow her head so he could give her a head scrub, sit on his shoulder and take food gently from his mouth. She even learned to say things like "love you, pretty bird, night night." Whenever a train went by she would say "choo choo." She gave him lots of kisses and she loved it when he played his guitar. In fact, she would sleep on his shoulder as he played. She was a special little girl. It was clear that Babe flourished in this loving environment. Through the experience of gaining her trust they developed a deep bond with each other. 

One evening I received a frantic text message from my friend. While stepping outside through his back door Babe snuck out and flew away. It was dark out and he had no idea where she was. He waited outside for her until the morning and when the sun rose he found her perched up high in his neighbor's tree. 

He did everything he could think of to coax her to come to him, back to where he could keep her safe and close. He brought out her cage and he talked to her. He sat under that tree and waited patiently for her to come back to him. He had done all that he could do for Babe, the rest was up to her. 

As the sun set that evening unfortunately my friend watched helplessly and with a broken heart as Babe flew away and never returned. If any of you have ever welcomed a pet into your life and bonded with that pet you will understand how devastating it is to lose a feather or fur family member, especially in such a traumatic way as this. I certainly understood and felt his pain and loss. 

Shortly after this happened the Holy Spirit revealed to me that sometimes this is how our Father God feels about us. When I saw that connection I was not only grieving with my friend over the loss of Babe, but I was also grieving with the Holy Spirit over this recent revelation. Like Babe, many of us have "trust issues." If we have lived on this earth for any length of time we soon discover that people can hurt us, lie to us, deceive us, abuse us, neglect us and reject us. We often concluded that NO ONE can be trusted and we build up this wall around our hearts in an effort to protect ourselves. 

Unfortunately, when we put up a wall we not only keep everyone else out, but we keep ourselves isolated making it impossible to truly connect with anyone. We then realize it's pretty lonely behind this wall and we attempt to fill the gap with anything that will relieve the loneliness and isolation we feel. We might try people pleasing, the pursuit of money or fame, popularity, a certain degree or job title, drugs, alcohol, gambling, sexual promiscuity, partying, pornography, etc. Don't get me wrong, some of these things are good things to pursue, but if they are in an effort to make you feel happy or complete you will be disappointed when you reach that goal. We might be able to escape the feelings of isolation and loneliness for a short time, but they always come back. 

In the meantime, none of that stops Father God from loving us. God is watching us, loving us and waiting with open arms for us to run to Him. Quite often when we conclude that no one can be trusted we include God and when we put that wall up we keep God out.

Some of us have had a cold, lifeless religion full of rules and regulations shoved down our throats and as a result thought, "If this is what it's all about I want no part of it" and we walk away. Jesus hated all of the man-made rules and regulations of the Pharisees. In fact he said:

Matthew 11:28-30 (NCV)

"Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Accept my teachings and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your lives. The burden that I ask you to accept is easy; the load I give you to carry is light."

Some of us feel we are too damaged or bad for God to love us. Some of us blame God for the pain we have endured instead of the enemy (Satan) whose sole mission in life is to destroy us. In fact, Jesus said:

John 10:10 (NLT)

The thief's purpose is to steal and kill an destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. 

Some of us may have had a bad or absent father. We might feel like because our earthly father was mean so is our heavenly father or because our earthly father rejected us so does our heavenly father, but that is a lie from the enemy. To put it simply we don't trust God. God knows we have "trust issues" or "other issues," yet that doesn't stop him from loving us.  He loves us completely and unconditionally. This is what God thinks about you:

Jeremiah 1:5 (NCV)

Before I made you in your mother's womb, I chose you.

Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work . . .

When we keep God out we push away the only One Who can help us through our pain and heal our wounded and broken lives. Although we break his heart when we reject His love as He watches us pursue other things or a self destructive lifestyle He maintains His vigilance of patiently and unconditionally loving us. Just like how Babe bit my friend piercing right through his skin, our rebellious, destructive lifestyle pierces God's heart and actually Jesus' side was pierced for our rebellion. 

Isaiah 53:5 (NLT)

But he was pierced for our rebellion,

crushed for our sins.

He was beaten so we could be whole.

He was whipped so we could be healed. 

Just like my friend did everything he could to coax Babe to him, the choice was hers. Our heavenly Father has done everything He can to coax us to Him including sending His only Son to suffer an excruciating death in order to pay the price for our sins. It was the highest price to pay because we are worth that much to Him. 

Those of us who choose to run to Him find safety and comfort in his arms. As we continue to pursue a relationship with Him He consistently and unconditionally loves us until one day our walls of distrust come tumbling down, our broken hearts are mended and our lives are transformed. Through this experience we develop a deep bond with our heavenly Father. 

Psalm 147:3 (NCV)

He heals the brokenhearted

and bandages their wounds.

Luke 4:18 (NCV)

"The Lord has put his Spirit in me,

because he appointed me to tell the Good News to the poor.

He has sent me to tell the captives they are free

and to tell the blind that they can see.

God sent me to free those who have been treated unfairly."

Isaiah 61:3 (NCV)

. . . I will give them a crown to replace their ashes,

and the oil of gladness to replace their sorrow,

and clothes of praise to replace their spirit of sadness.

Then they will be called Trees of Goodness,

trees planted by the Lord to show his greatness.

It's note too late to run to your heavenly Father. He will gladly accept you with open arms. You can trust Him. Your heart is safe with Him. Don't let another hour go by without experiencing the unconditional love of your heavenly Father. You have nothing to lose but heartache and emptiness and eternity and peace to gain.

In loving memory of sweet Babe

Treadmill workout and a precious God moment

I have a true story to share with you. I was working out on my treadmill. I have Shaw digital TV and I am scanning the music channels for “high energy” music to keep me motivated. I stopped on the 80s channel. OK, so maybe I am showing my age here, but I am an 80s girl. Anyway, this song came on called, “Got my mind set on you” by George Harrison. Does anyone know the song I am talking about? If the lyrics will fit I will sometimes turn a song into a worship song and sing it as a form of worship to God. When I heard the main chorus of the song I felt like it was the perfect worship song so I began singing the lyrics to the chorus only and worshiping God while working out on my treadmill. The lyrics in the chorus are pretty simple. They are, “I got my mind set on you” repeated over and over. So there I was singing at the top of my lungs while working out on my treadmill singing, “I got my mind set on you” and pointing to the sky. I suppose it is a good thing I workout at home instead of at the gym…lol. Here is a link to the song if you want to hear it: http://youtu.be/jQM9rwt_MHc

Then the song ended and I can’t remember if it was the very next song or the song after that, but shortly after that song I heard God say to me in my heart, “Now I have a song for you that I want you to listen to. Pay close attention to the chorus lyrics because this explains how I feel about you.” Has anyone here ever been Rick Rolled? If you have you will know exactly what song I am talking about. The song is called, “Never gonna give you up” by Rick Astley, another 80s song of course. When I listened to the words in the chorus of this song and knew that God was telling me this is how He feels about me, I felt incredibly happy; it was an amazing God moment. I felt so loved. I know He feels the same way about you too. If you have ever struggled with feeling like God doesn’t want you or He doesn’t care about you or that you are not good enough, don’t believe it, those are lies coming from the enemy. I know God feels the exact same way about you as He does about me and this song applies to you just as much as it does to me. I know He loves the fact that I am sharing this with you now. Here is a link to the song: http://youtu.be/k7oVeqs-ve8 (Play the song) Go ahead and dance, sing or do both if you want to. J

Remember this only applies to the chorus lyrics of the song, not the verses. The chorus lyrics are posted below:

Never Gonna Give you up Lyrics

Rick Astley
CHORUS
Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and desert you Never gonna make you cry Never gonna say goodbye Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

For those of you who have never been Rick Rolled and would like the pleasure of the experience so you know exactly what I am talking about click on this link: http://thekickback.com/rickroll/rickroll.php

I have to tell you that sharing a moment like that with God feels incredible. Just the fact that God would care about me so much that He would send me a song to tell me how much He loves me? Little ol’ me? It is an amazing feeling. Who am I that He should care so much for me? But He does care for me. He does love me. And He loves you just as much.

In Acts 10:34 the Bible says, “It's God's own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you're from—if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open…”

What I am trying to say is there is nothing special about me. If God will communicate his love for me He will do it for you too, he does not play favorites as we read about in the previous verse. The fact is God is always trying to communicate with us. The problem is we become too preoccupied and too busy with the things in our life that we fail to hear him.
We fill our heads with text messages, work, video games, music, movies, sports, time with friends, etc. None of these things are bad if they are clean and moral. It is all about balance. So many people say they are just too busy to spend time with God, but the truth is, we always make time for what is important to us. If friends are important to you, you will always make time to hang out with them and enjoy your time with them. God is no different. He wants to be your best friend. If you will make time for Him every day like you do other things that are important to you, I PROMISE you, YOU WILL begin to feel His presence, YOU WILL begin to feel His love for you and YOU WILL hear from Him!

So many people say they don’t feel God or they think of Him as this being out there in the universe somewhere, but the truth is God is never far away. We are the ones who move ourselves further away from Him by crowding Him out of our lives with other things. The choice is always ours.

He communicates to each person in unique ways. He speaks to us in a way that He knows we will receive it. For example, when He Rick Rolled me He knew I was listening to the music to see if I could turn it into a form of worship as I was working out. I had just finished singing the chorus lyrics to Him as a form of worship. He knew I would hear Him at that moment. And I am here to tell you, when you hear from Him, the love you feel from Him, it is like no other, it is out of this world, literally, and cannot even be compared with the kind of love you will ever find on this earth. Just like the song lyrics say, He will never give up on you, He will never lie to you, He will never hurt you and He will NEVER leave you! Those are promises you can trust completely. We have all been hurt, lied to, given up on and left behind, etc., but there is One Who will never do that to you. I pray my treadmill God moment blesses you…