However, trials are not the reason for this specific post.
For the past little while, my life has had a lot of these "coincidences." Namely in my social life. There have been too many instances when I have thought of a friend but failed to act, only to have them act instead and contact me. Or there are times when the Spirit will whisper to me to do something and I decide to act, only to realize that it was exactly what the person needed at that time. More often than not, it was what I needed as well.
The Lord is very aware of us. In the words of Albert Einstein: "Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous."
I found the article below and fell in love with it. It speaks the truth to me about coincidences. I am re-posting it here in order to have the article even if the original link disappears someday. (See citation after the article):
When God Winks at You
By: Squire Rushnell
You’ve had another one of those days. Everything seems uncertain.
You think: Wouldn’t it be great to wake up one morning and have everything be certain? Certain in love? Certain about your job? Certain about your future?
Who could you talk to about this? Bigger question, who’d listen?
Tentatively your eyes drift skyward.
Hello? Are you there, God?
Then your mind quickly assesses the immensity of your request. You want God to listen to you, right now. How ridiculous. There are six billion people on this planet. What if they’re all calling God at the same time?
You slump. Deeper into the dumps.
Then--something happens.
A little silly thing.
Someone you just thought about for the first time in years phones out of the blue--a silly little coincidence, so silly you shrug it off. Or a prayer you didn’t really expect to be answered--was! Immediately, your left brain repeats something you once heard: There’s a mathematical explanation for everything.
“But…” you say, “mayyyyybe... it’s not just coincidence or chance!”
Maybe God is communicating with you.
Yes directly to you!
You shake your head.
Naw. Couldn’t be.
But…what if God is communicating with you--in a nonverbal way--making a little miracle happen, right in front of you? After all, God doesn’t speak to people in a human voice. He’s God…He’d do something no one else could do, just to show you it’s Him!
If so, that would mean that He is listening! Right?
He has heard you!
What if through this odd little coincidence, or answered prayer, He’s sending you--you… out of all of those billions of people--a direct personal message of reassurance? To stop worrying? To keep the faith? That everything will be all right?
Every time you receive what some call a coincidence or an answered prayer, it’s a direct and personal message of reassurance from God to you--what I call a godwink.
It’s similar to when you were a kid at the dining room table. You looked up and saw someone you loved looking back. Mom or Dad or Granddad. They gave you a little wink.
You had a nice feeling from that small silent communication.
What did it mean? Probably--“Hey kid…I’m thinking about you right this moment. I’m proud of you. Everything is going to be all right.”
That’s what a godwink is.
Every so-called coincidence or answered prayer is God’s way of giving you His small, silent, communication. A little wink saying, “Hey kid! I’m thinking of you…right now!”
It’s a clear message of reassurance-that not matter how uncertain your life seems at the moment, He will help move you toward certainty.
And it’s a sign that you’re never alone. In fact, you’re always on His GPS--a global positioning system I like to call God’s Positioning System...
There are no coincidences in this life. Keep that in mind the next time a prayer seems to have been answered, or that cute boy/girl finally talks to you right when you feel you are having a difficult time with loneliness. Just remember, the Lord knows us individually and He will provide for us individually, often through the service of others.
