God-Spotting: Episode 4

I had just been to a men's breakfast (this morning) where our guest speaker shared a memory of noticing in his bank account (in the 1960s) he had about $2,000. He had been trusting in God to provide, but now that the money was there, he was starting to trust in the money.

No surprises where he went with this observation: We need to keep our trust in our eternal God on both occasions. When we have money. And when we don't.

I came home and was handling a bit of online banking and noted with satisfaction that there is money in the bank. I'll need it in the coming months. Looks to be a high-learning and low-earning moment in my life.

And then I remembered what that man had shared. Good reminder. Yes, Lord. Please, help me.

Then I turned to another browser tab to get some music playing for the day. Google Play was already in the middle of the song I had hit pause on the night prior. I don't know the songs that well by title, so as I hit play, I really had no idea what I'd hear, lyric-wise. As I did so, the thought entered my mind: "Could these lyrics confirm what I just was thinking?"

Temporary riches lie.

Those were the first words I could discern.

As is my wont, I became curious enough to go online and get the full lyrics. The song, titled All My Tears is from the band Jars of Clay. The song has nothing to say about wealth... except the section that I heard when I clicked the play button.

Gold and silver blind the eye
Temporary riches lie
Come and eat from Heaven's store
Come and drink and thirst no more

Thank you, Lord, for that gentle word. Thank you, Jars of Clay, for your prophetic ministry in music.

God-Spotting: Episode 3

Disclaimer: the rules of engagement are:
1) I heard the story first-hand from the person who experienced it.
2) I trust this person. I am sure they are telling the truth.
3) In fact, this person might even be me.
4) I'll respect the person and keep their identity a secret.
5) I leave it to the reader to decide if they believe in a God who...

I was with a client. We were discussing a dog in its final days who was in great pain. I had just said that my brother would be putting the poor thing out of its misery soon.

She looked at me pensively and said, "You know, Pilgrim, the dog might not be in as much pain as you think."

"What makes you say that, friend?" I asked.

She said, "I was once on the operating table and had lost a lot a blood. At one point, the pain went away entirely."

"And," she went on to say quietly, " I saw myself on the table from above it."

I had been listening. Now I was listening intently.

"Tell me more."

She said, "There was no pain at all, and I had an incredible peace. There was a white door. But I couldn't go through it because I had a 4-yr old girl who needed me."

She shared a bit more, but these were the things that stuck with me.

And one other thing.

She reiterated something several times during the course of the conversation.

"I'm not afraid of dying. I'm not afraid one bit. I know what awaits me, and it's wonderful."

God-Spotting: Episode 2

Disclaimer: the rules of engagement are:
1) I heard the story first-hand from the person who experienced it.
2) I trust this person. I am sure they are telling the truth.
3) In fact, this person might even be me.
4) I'll respect the person and keep their identity a secret.
5) I leave it to the reader to decide if they believe in a God who...

This one is fresh. Happened just this past week.

We'll call him Jim.

Jim was sitting at his desk when he suddenly felt compelled to call an old friend. We'll call the friend Bob.

They had been in closer contact in the past, but now Jim didn't even have a phone number for this friend Bob.

They were friends on Linked-In, however, so Jim found the company. Called the main line.

Jim worked his way through the company directory. Got a number.

Called it.

"This is Bob."

"Bob? This is Jim."

Gasp.

The gasp was audible on the phone line.

Bob recovered.

"Jim, I wanted to call you last night, but I didn't. I was tired of calling you when I needed you. I was too ashamed to do it again..."

"...But I did ask God to have you call me."

God Spotting: Episode 1

Disclaimer: the rules of engagement are:
1) I heard the story first-hand from the person who experienced it.
2) I trust this person. I am sure they are telling the truth.
3) I'll respect the person and keep their identity a secret.
4) I leave it to the reader to decide if they believe in a God who...

This was many decades ago. He was a child, perhaps 5 years old, when it happened.

He was in his house playing next to the fireplace, doing whatever he was doing. No one else was near him. There was a fire going in the fireplace, and his father was in a different room... shaving in the bathroom, to be precise.

All of a sudden, his dad came rushing into the room, grabbed him and forcefully threw him away from the fireplace.

And just then it happened. The fireplace exploded.

An aerosol lying among some garbage in the fireplace had blown up.

He could have been injured. Blinded? Killed? Hard to know.

Because it didn't happen. His father threw him to safety.

Why? How did his father know? This question haunts him to this day.

It's not that he lacks an answer. It's the answer itself that haunts him.

"How did you know?" he had asked his father.

"God told me," his father replied.

I've shared this story with a few friends since hearing it, and I found myself puzzling over one detail. I went back to him with a question.

"God-spotter, why was the household garbage in the fireplace? It was in your house, right? Did you burn garbage that way back then?"

"No, Pilgrim. That wasn't our ordinary practice. My sister threw the bag of garbage into the fireplace that day. She had never done it before, and she never did it again."

"So your dad had no idea she had done that?"

"No. For all my life I cannot escape it. I know God saved me from harm that day."