Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Coincidence or "God-incidence"?

They say that hind sight is 20/20 and I know that is true.  When you look back on your life you often find meaning where at the time you thought it was random events or even needless suffering.  My hind sight has also convinced me that there is no such thing as coincidence for a believer.  Looking back through my uncertain times I see God's had everywhere.

One random example:  When I was looking at colleges I wanted to go to the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt SO bad.  It didn't matter to me that Baylor University was offering me a free ride and letting me design my own Musical Theater major.  Then, Blair turned me down.  I was devastated.  So, I said "Fine!" and went to contact Baylor.  I know when I am not wanted...  Only, Baylor had lost all records of my existence, scholarship offer, and everything.  I thought my world was ending.  (OK keep in mind I was 18, so it didn't take that much to shatter the earth in my point of view.)  That same afternoon the dean of Arts and Science at Vanderbilt called literally begging me to still come to Vanderbilt and consider another major.  If I still wanted to be a voice major he assured me he would find a way to get me in once I was there...

Off I went to Vanderbilt...  Here comes the God-incidences:  If I had gone to Baylor, I would never have met Jon-Paul, the love of my life.  I would never have met Mark DeVries, dear friend and mentor who helped me confirm my call.  I would never have become an intern at First Pres. Nashville who awarded me a full tuition scholarship to Columbia Theological Seminary.  But my very favorite one (which shows that God knows so much better than I do):  If I had been a voice major I would have had to be in the Blair Choral and would have been FORBIDDEN to join the Vanderbilt Concert Choir or Chamber Singers.  My time in those two musical groups were the best thing that happened to me at Vandy beside meeting JP.  When I thought my life was out of control and nothing was going right, God had me right in hand and knew where I needed to be going.

Every time there is an earth shattering or even just life changing event, I can look back at my life and see God's hand.  That gives me the courage to take the leaps of faith that are needed on my journey.  If you look carefully at the Psalms, that is what a good number of them are doing, especially the laments.  "Things are bad right now, but God was faithful in the past.  I trust that God will be faithful and take care of me now."

Here we are at another life changing event.  I am excited for Jon-Paul and his new opportunity.   But to be honest, I really hate moving.  I hate having to evacuate our home any time someone wants to look at it.  I worry that like the last two moves we will have to buy a house before this one sells.  (Two mortgages on top of moving expenses are really no fun.)  This time we will sort of be leaving Martin behind.  The next school year he will have his own apartment in Texas while we are in Florida.  He may never actually live under our roof again.

All that being said, I believe in "God-incidence".  God is in control.  When we came here I didn't know what God had planned for me.  I thought we must have made a mistake, but then I got to fill in for Sharon when she needed a sabbatical.  And in time God led me to DeSoto where I discovered the joy of 1/2 time ministry and learned that I could serve God and be a mom at the same time!

I don't know exactly what the future brings, but I believe that God is guiding us.  Even when we make wrong choices or go the wrong way, God can get us back on the path and use us where ever we wind up.  "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His Purpose." Romans 8:28

God has a church or ministry in Orlando that is waiting just for me to come and serve.  God has someone lined up to take over here in DeSoto to lead this church into the future.  God will be with us as we move and with Martin as he heads out on his own journey.  There is no coincidence for me, because the Lord walks beside me along my way!