I don’t believe in coincidences

There are days when I feel like I am getting a clear message from God. Monday was one of those days.

My first devotional reading that morning was the daily devotional from In Touch Ministries and the below verse from Psalm 105 was part of the scripture reading.

I also read the daily Our Daily Bread devotional because my husband reads that one and I want to be on the same page with him for at least a part of each morning.🙂. In the reading Monday morning we were in I Chronicles and I read the SAME WORDS!

Two very different devotionals in two very different books of the Bible brought out the exact same message to me! I don’t believe in coincidences.

I believe there is a reason God wanted me to remember to look for Him and His strength in everything. It’s so easy to get distracted and to stop thinking about the Lord and all He does to sustain me.

Our lives are just so busy! October is an especially busy month for us with 2 birthdays in our immediate family and all the October performances and events our daughter is involved in with her Choir (fundraising performances, singing the National Anthem at the Homecoming football game, choir retreat) as well as Homecoming itself and a variety of other friend hangouts, etc. And I still have to get the grocery shopping and meal planning done, among other household duties.

But my priority must always be serving the Lord in any way He directs. And I can only know which direction to look if I am staying connected to Him through reading my Bible each day and through constant prayer. I don’t multi-task very well anymore. But God has still given me the ability to pray while I’m doing almost everything. I have a constant dialogue with the Lord going in my head.

I find that this habit protects me from negative thoughts, helps me stay patient in frustrating circumstances, keeps my feelings in check, keeps my tongue in check, gives me a calm assurance and strength I know only come from God. I feel a power and confidence when I have my mind occupied with prayer. Do you know what I mean? It feels to me like I can almost see the Shield of Faith out in front of me as I go into the grocery store, shoving danger out of my way. I can almost hear the swords of the Spirit wielded by His angels doing battle all around me so I can safely go about my day.

If that makes me weird, so be it!

I am not ashamed of my faith. I have gotten too far in this life, experienced God’s very obvious provision and protection too many times and witnessed the power of the name of Jesus too often to worry about what other people think about my faith.

Yesterday I wore a red hoodie as I did my grocery shopping. It was something that was suggested by the Turning Point USA people in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death. It would have been his 32nd birthday and he was a very outspoken witness for Jesus Christ (among other things). My husband was concerned that in our liberal area I would be making myself a target by wearing it. I believe the verses the day before were planted by God to give me strength and to encourage me not to be afraid of my testimony as I did my shopping. And also to remind me where by strength and protection comes from!

Today is Wednesday and I obviously survived my shopping trip without becoming a victim of violence. And as long as God has a purpose for me on this earth, He will continue to protect me from physical danger.

There are no guarantees though. Plenty of Christians are physically harmed and killed for their faith every day in this world. I suppose I could be one of them some day. But I’m confident in the Lord’s strength regardless of my circumstances and am therefore unafraid of what lies ahead and unashamed of Jesus Christ whose Holy Spirit lives within me.