Bam!
It hits out of nowhere! The mysteriousness of God. His characteristically outside-of-the-box way of doing things. Something happens so far outside of what I am expecting at that moment that it just puts me in awe. It makes me wonder how He does it. I mean, I know He’s God. He can do anything. But seriously, the way He plans things out is just so….
Amazing?
I guess that’s an acceptable, albeit limited, description of His workings, thoughts, and plans that He has for His children. The bible says in Jeremiah…
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
and David says in Psalms,
“How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them,they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you.” Psalm 139:17, 18 NIV
To know that God continually has me on His mind is beyond my comprehension. And not only does He think of us more than the number of the sand on the earth’s beaches, He has good thoughts toward us. He wants to bless us. He watches over us like a good father does over his children. It really is awesome to think about.
On to the purpose of the post….
God amazed me again today. Let me share the story with you.
First, a little background. I am a member of our church’s Men’s Ministry Team. One of the things we do for the men of our church is to provide a daily bible reading program that I send out via text nearly every morning. There are quite a few guys on the reading plan and it seems to be a good way to encourage us all to spend time in the word and also gives us a common discussion point since we’re all reading the same material each day.
Today, I also sent a text out to the men of our church letting them know there was a prayer request for a guy that had been in an accident and was currently in ICU . It went out to the same group of guys who get the daily bible reading texts. I sent it out, said a prayer for the individual, and went about my day, nothing out of the ordinary.
Until this afternoon.
At about 3:30 my phone rings. I look and see it’s from an unrecognized number. I figure it’s one of my customers so I answer with my typical saluatation….
“Rick Littreal”
The man on the other end of the phone tells me he received a text today about someone being in the hospital and that he was concerned. He thought it may have been someone he knew, and he was trying to clarify who it was and who I was. Of course he was referring to the text I had sent earlier and we each quickly figured out that I had sent the text to an incorrect number. In attempt to figure out how I even had his number, I asked him if he was affiliated with our church and told him who I was and what the text was about. He told me that he did not attend our church and furthermore had never even been to church. We continued to talk and he told me that while he had never been to church and was not a Christian, he keeps a bible by his bed and he – get this…..
really enjoys the daily bible readings that I had been sending.
What? Are you serious? My mind is racing. I’m silently praying for God to direct me while the guy is talking to me. God, your telling me that You’ve had this guy receiving the texts I’ve been sending? This man told me that he has been reading the scriptures that I send. God, have you been planning this intersection? I knew this was not a coincidence and I told this gentleman in no uncertain terms.
“This is a God thing. Do not let this pass you by.”
He said he knew that our meeting was not a coincidence. He told me that he knows that God has been watching out for him over the past few weeks. I did not press to know what that meant exactly but it let me know that this guy knows that something is going on. He knows this is important. How do I know that he knew it was important? Because he and I are perfect strangers and yet, when our call dropped 3 times, he called me back every time. Our conversation went on for just a short while but he told me that he would like to attend church with me this weekend. I told him I would contact him Saturday. I hung up and sat there.
I was excited. I still am. I was amazed. I still am. I try to put together the past weeks from God’s point of view. Can you imagine it? God sees me. God sees Him. God sees today, even 2, 3, 4 weeks ago. He’s preparing this guy’s heart. He causes his phone to be filled with text messaged scriptures and then He allows a text about someone being in an accident to prompt this man to make a phone call to a person he doesn’t even know. I don’t know what will happen from here, but God does.
He’s the grand coordinator.
He makes the earth to spin on it’s axis. He makes the sun to shine. He makes the wind to blow and the rain to fall. He causes two men’s paths to cross. Why? Because He loves His creation. And He has great plans for all of us.
Yep, it’s just when we think we have God figured out….. we realize we don’t.
Isn’t that just one of the things that makes Him so great?
EQUIPPING MEN TO LIVE INTENTIONAL LIVES 
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