Not just the adventures of life or the travel. Events and circumstances. . . truly i have experienced life on many levels. I have experienced grief and trauma and mourning and tears. I have experienced sickness [even chronic] and healing. I have experienced joy and hope and laughter and creativity. So many many things, its never dull, never boring, never stagnant, always changing. . . LIFE! God looked on created human when He made us and breathed LIFE into us but also declared the word, "LIVE!" over us. While there is breathe in our lungs, ie a sign of LIFE, then there is always Hope. Things can always change, not always the way we want. but Life is for living, even the hard parts. don't try figure them out or understand them. . . someday, they might make sense, or they might not, but even these are part of life. Take heart, as Jesus, even when you have trouble in this life/world for He has overcome the world.
What stands out a lot for me is PEOPLE! i mean what are the chances that i would meet this specific person. [now many people will say that in regards to their spouses or wanting to meet someone famous . . . truthfully i would love to meet BONO!!!!! and also my favorite author "Ted Dekker"! so that i can write a "what are the chances?" blog about those encounters, i would also prefer to meet them this side of heaven and not wait for eternity, YES that is me putting a massive HINT out there...i mean what would the chances be????? thankfully in God, they are not impossible.]
But sometimes people cross our paths, and at the first meeting we have no idea how significant they will be in our lives. It gives us a glimpse into how far God will go to connect paths. I have heard countless stories of these moments in life, and it never ceases to amaze me. And sometimes its just for a single appointed moment, and nothing more. I remember a dear friend shared a story of her flight being delayed in a European country. She sat there alone, and hungry wishing for coffee and a croissant. A woman walked passed her, paused and said, "i am going to get a coffee and a croissant, would you like to join me?" my friend did. my friend is australian, and is a wonderful women of worship, pray and counsel. This woman was a worship leader from canada going through an exceptionally difficult time in her life. A delayed flight, a food craving and a compassionate woman [all God orchestrated] connect their lives for an hour or two in an airport in Europe. Where the australian women could encourage, minister to and pray for the canadian woman, and then their paths parted again, possibly until eternity.
Remarkable what God can do, just to encourage you through other people. What He will reroute, delay or steps he will ordain for just that moment.
I have had so many of these incidents, and each time i think of one, i am reminded of another and another. i challenge you to stop for a moment and consider some of these in your own life. It will really help you see the hand of God on your life.
my most significant moment with God connecting human paths together was when we moved from Johannesburg to Durban, i was about 9 years old. That day the neighbours came and offered biscuits and juice. it was out first encounter. i did not know how this encounter would lead to events that would change my world forever, on so many levels. Their daughter was my age, and they had a son older than me and another son younger than me. We became friends and i was as often in their house as my own house. The father was a pastor. and each week the family would invite me to church and each week i would decline. when i had just turned 15, there older son was looking super cute. I obviously wasn't good at hiding the fact that i had noticed this. The parents eventually upped their game, changed strategy a bit. The next church invitation included the fact that they would ensure i sat next to the oldest son. They also dropped even more bait by saying in the last song everyone held hands. Yup that was just the encouragement i needed. i became a regular church attendee and 3 months later i made a decision to accept Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and life has never been the same again and i am eternally grateful. 21 years later i have lost touch with that family, but those years together lead to the circumstances that made me who i am today, and opened the door to an eternal relationship with God. incredible!
Another not so chance encounter. i was in England for a sport competition. In one cities we were hosted by a great family. i apparently met the daughter, we swapped addresses and said we would be pen pals. this was in 1995. My family also said that if this girl ever came to South Africa we would return the favour and host her. fast forward many years, of brief correspondence. i finally got an email to say this girl was coming to visit South Africa. She wasn't Christian yet. but God immediately told me that she would come, and on this trip she would not only become Christian, but she would attend bible college. it seemed impossible. But i had heard God. i spoke to her about God a few times but she left to continue her journey along the South African coastline, still not having made a decision to accept Jesus as her Lord and Saviour. but somewhere on her journey, God kept connecting dots, till one day she sat on a beach and encountered a woman and her kids. The woman happened to be a pastor's wife, and it was a moment where lives collided for a heavenly purpose. what joy! this friend later, on the same trip, circled back to Durban, happened to attend a church service talking about the bible college and decided to attend. She also ended up marrying one of my Durban friends. They have lived her and in the UK and are back here again, and have two wonderful little girls. a chance encounter in 1995 was paving the way to this girl [now woman's future] many many years later, and it was far more than any of us could have asked or imagined or predicted.
Not all our encounters are as big or dramatic [though in my next blog i will be sharing my favorite of these type encounters- spanning 15 years and it still blows my mind - so dont miss tomorrow's blog.] Even though they might not be as big or dramatic, they will often still leave a lasting impression on your life. i remember being so down and out and ready to leave Albania at one stage of missionary work there. My friend invited myself and my flatmate to go on a school trip with her, up the mountain. It happened to be to the exact venue and place where God had first clearly spoken to me about being a missionary in Albania.
As i said i could tell story after story of big and small encounters where God has used people in tiny and huge gestures and situations to connect seemingly random dots and change a life, or simply encourage it. Always reminding us that He truly delights in every detail of our lives. He is over-involved, in a good way. He adores us and will literally move heaven and earth and people all over the earth for us.
Don't forget to come back tomorrow for a story that is almost too exceptional to be true. yet God did it in my life....
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