There Are No Coincidences

There's a college-age adult fellowship group I've been attending since fall now that has been a huge encouragement in my life. The man who hosts it in his home, Ron, has a passion for God that truly inspires. One of his favorite things to point out is that with God, there are no coincidences. It's funny how I have known that in my head and probably said it who knows how many times myself, but perhaps haven't begun to grasp it as fully before as I've started to now.

One incident that really has struck this home to me was the fact that one evening our group decided to go around and pray for certain people on each of the group members' minds, people we felt we needed to connect or reconnect with, whether they were Christians or not. Perhaps the connection would help draw them to God, or perhaps it would be mutually beneficial. Either way, if we felt led to contact that person for whatever reason, Ron encouraged us to do so. After all, he also likes to point out the fact that relationships are one of the most important things we can cultivate, because those are the things that last.

That evening brought someone to mind that I haven't thought of as much lately as I have in the past. Someone that had all but walked out of my life, leaving much hurt behind. I'd prayed for over two years for her, not agreeing with all of her decisions, especially her choice to turn her back on the God she'd claimed to believe in once before, but continuing to love her. Time and the different paths we'd taken in life had pulled us further apart. I sometimes texted her to wish her a merry Christmas or a happy day on other holidays, but we didn't really "keep up." I didn't feel led to necessarily contact her myself--I'd started to feel that that was more her job, that my duty was to keep praying and being there if she ever wanted/needed me. I wanted to show her God's love but I wasn't going to chase after her, especially when I didn't feel I should appear as if I approved of her choices. It was an uncertain position to be in at times, but now, after all this time, I was so busy with my life, my friends' lives, and the prayer requests I had for myself and the ones they had for themselves, that I rarely remembered to pray for her. She just wasn't really a part of my life anymore. Well, I asked for prayer to remember her, and I did at least remember to pray a few times over the course of the next several days, but it easily slipped from my mind as time passed once more.

It was maybe a week and a half later when I received a text from her. Imagine my surprise to see her name show up on my screen! She said she was going to be in town the next weekend and wanted to find time to meet with me. Naturally, I agreed. I was blown away. God had just recently brought her to my mind, and here she was, reaching out to me. I knew He had a reason for this and that I needed to see her, even if it was just to chat casually over coffee.

The next weekend was an interesting one. I asked for prayer from just about any Christian friend I had regular contact with because I really, really wanted God to be all over this. I felt like my walls had been built up high, that I'd become numb enough over time to not be too upset or worked up over the situation, but I still could feel some nerves. That night I started to get antsy, and then--bam!--I felt the old hurts return. For the first time in longer than I could even remember, I began to cry over it. Honestly, my emotions were so jumbled and seemed to sneak up on me so quickly that I'm not 100% sure why, whether it was mostly because I felt hurt and was selfishly crying for myself, or if I was crying out of concern for her and grieving over her decisions too. Either way, I was partially glad that the pain was coming back, even just temporarily, because I believed it would help me keep her fresh in my mind and pray for her more often.

Meeting with her the next morning went well. She even mentioned that she was going to church that morning with her family because her father wanted her to attend the Sunday school he was teaching, and then her younger brother was singing during the service. Just the fact that she was ready to attend, whatever the reasons behind it, encouraged me and brought me hope. God was listening. He was working, even if during all that time I couldn't see it and had a hard time being patient and persistent. I don't know what the long term effects of my seeing her that day might be, but I don't believe that that was a coincidence either. God gave me that chance, even if it was just to chat with her casually about life and see what was going on. Maybe just showing up and showing that I cared would be a witness. I don't know. But it definitely helped me, reminding me of my continued love for her and that God is working. There are no coincidences. And thank God that He keeps working even when we lose hope and fall asleep instead of continue to pray!