Phenomenal non-coincidences

If you’ll indulge me for a bit, I’d like to spend some time marveling... in a good way.

I don’t think it’s an accident that I’ve had to completely change my diet around the time that I’ve been learning how to cook. I don’t think it’s an accident that I’ve had to learn to live with dietary restrictions around the time that society has been embracing people’s dietary restrictions. (I’m not vegan or glucose-free. I just need to avoid fat, sugar, and salt especially.) Even though I’ve been slowly grieving the loss of my favorite salty, greasy foods -- even though I haven’t really been able to afford to eat them in the past year and a half -- I don’t think it’s an accident that I’ve had to learn to discipline myself to eat better... around the time that God has been disciplining me to eat only certain foods when I fast.

I don’t think it’s an accident that God put it on the hearts of four of my friends to give me free food around the time that I would possibly be too broke to buy food. And now I have more food than I know what to do with. (No worries. My creative juices have been coming up with ideas.)

I don’t think it’s an accident that I happen to live in an area that is teeming with parks and walking trails at a time in my life when I need to exercise more.

I don’t think it’s an accident that I’ve been maneuvering through my current health drama during a season in my life in which I’m not working full-time. I don’t have to worry about calling in sick, taking off work to go to doctor’s appointments, fighting traffic to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy, or even being so stressed on the job that it could possibly kill me.

I don’t think it’s an accident that I’ve been living in a day and age when technology is sophisticated enough to facilitate the flow of my life. Although I much prefer learning in an actual classroom, I don’t think it’s an accident that online classes are available at a time when I need to take them for my degree and when I have the means to do so. Although it’s possible to call a doctor’s office and play phone tag with a healthcare professional, I don’t think it’s an accident that I live in a day and age when I’m able to communicate with medical professionals through a phone app... especially when I’m learning that I’m allergic to the medications that they were prescribing me. And they’re able to instantly call in a prescription for a replacement medication to my pharmacy... who can text me when it’s ready for pickup.

I don’t think it’s an accident that my physical health has been unraveling around the same time that my emotional health has been unraveling, analyzed, and slowly repaired at the roots. I don’t think it’s an accident that I’m surrounded by community everywhere I look, everywhere I go, everywhere I am... during this time when I really need covering.

I don’t think it’s an accident that the lady who prayed for me at the altar (in the balcony) at church yesterday -- when I asked for prayer for the tingly numbness that I’d been experiencing on one side of my body -- had also been dealing with numbness in one of her limbs and, therefore, had extra insight on how to pray for me.

And I certainly don’t think it’s an accident that I only own one cat now, who insists on extended times of affection... even if it means biting my shoulder while purr-mauling my arm. I don’t think it’s an accident that she doesn’t seem to mind that I don’t really have a routine right now... or that she’s flexible enough to give me some alone time when I need it and heal me with her love when I need it. I don’t think it’s an accident that we met each other when we did, and I don’t think it’s an accident that we need each other.

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

“Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” (Psalm 50:15)

I’ve heard it said that “coincidences are when God chooses to remain anonymous.” I’m sorry, but that’s one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard. If God wanted to be anonymous, why would He go through the trouble of letting people know when He was working in their lives? Why would He go through the trouble of sending Jesus -- who spelled out exactly who He was, is, and will be -- to tell us that we needed Him and to die on the cross for our sins? Why would He spell out in the Bible that He wants us to glorify Him? Why would He want to be glorified at all?

Well, it certainly isn’t because He wants to remain anonymous. It’s because He wants the credit for what He’s done. It’s because He’s God, and He’s the only One who will always be qualified to help us whenever we need help. That’s how He’s designed life to be, that’s the way He likes it, and I hope that that’s how I’ve been living my life.

I hope that I’ve glorified Him in this post, because I see that He’s orchestrated the tiny little details of my life. There’s no way that any of the things that I listed on this post are coincidences, and there’s no way that my God -- who loves me, wants me, and takes impeccably good care of me -- didn’t have a hand in any of them. I’m convinced that He’s made sure that every little detail has intersected in a way that has preserved my life... in a way that has gotten me back on track after I’ve veered off course.

I’ve heard it said that His timing is perfect, and I agree.