It doesn’t matter what you call it…fate, kismet, destiny, serendipity, divine intervention…it’s real. It’s when something happens at exactly the right time in exactly the right way it needed to in order for the outcome to occur. It happens to everyone, all the time. You just may not be in tune with it.
My lifestyle is such that I have the freedom currently to do pretty much whatever I want, when I want. I have few deadlines. I have no real schedule to speak of. On a typical day, I wake up and meditate and converse with God. Then I check in here and my personal FB page. I check the news and weather. I glance at emails. I read. I allow two hours for this nebulous journey then I get up, put on my coffee. After that…it’s anybody’s guess where I’ll end up. I train, have lunch, run errands, do chores, write, research, prep meals, and have dinner…with friends or alone. It’s a simple life and allows much more clarity than I have ever experienced in my life. It’s like living in a foreign land where everything is beautifully outlined in light. I notice things more. I feel and sense more. And God absolutely drops everything I need in my lap. He’s been pretty generous with the things I want as well.
Yesterday, I was walking through the Kroger store. I walked past the meat aisle and laughed at a memory. John Shepherd was the general manager of the Kroger my mom always shopped in. My boyfriend (who later became my first husband) also worked there. I remembered a story about John eating a steak on Good Friday and saying “You’re a fish! You’re a fish!” as he cut it up. This led me to try to remember the others who worked there at the time, one of whom was Jim Wilson. I loved Jim. He was a Pastor and worked at the store, in produce, I believe. My boyfriend and I attended his church a couple of times. I knew John died many years ago, but I hadn’t heard a thing about Jim since 1973.
I turned away from my reverie and finished gathering my groceries. The lines were long and I chose one. After waiting several minutes, I remembered something I needed and went off in search of it. When I came back, all the lines were long except one. I piled my items on the belt as the clerk assisted the couple in front of me. When it was my turn, I stepped up and started rummaging around in my purse for my wallet. The clerk asked how my day was going and I replied, still looking in my purse. “It was busy…but great!” I found my wallet and looked up at the clerk for the first time.
It was Jim!
My knees actually wobbled. My jaw dropped. I knew it was him…but I didn’t want to come across all creepy so I asked,
“Aren’t you Jim?”
“Yes.”
“You were a Pastor?”
“Still am!”
I introduced myself and after a while, I had to apologize profusely to the people in line behind me for keeping them waiting. Jim and I quickly exchanged info so we wouldn’t lose track again. Later in the evening, we had an hour long conversation.
God is the perfect orchestrator of all things. I never question anymore. There’s a reason we were brought back in contact. I think it was for something Jim was about to discuss with me. We were talking about my writing and how it has developed a following over the last few years. I told him how I pray over my keyboard for the right words and for the people who need to hear them. Then, I half apologetically told him I ask God to provide for me financially through my writing. Jim went on to talk about Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given…” He pointed out there are two other parts to that. “Seek…” and “Knock…” All action words. We aren’t told to ask and then sit back and wait for the silver platter. So, I ask God…then I seek God…then I knock on the door of His heart. And He blesses me.
What a beautiful life this is!
❤️
““Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Matthew 7:7-8 NIV