A thing happen today that happens all the time. I used to think it happened rarely and would call it a miracle or a “God thing.” I was about half right on that front. It was sort of both but rather than being an outlier “God thing” it is actually just sort of “God’s thing.” And that thing is this: He shows up and weaves stuff together in incredible ways. We call it luck, or chance, or coincidence, but it is really just God being God. A popular phrase had its fifteen minutes a year ago or so that went like this, “I’m just gonna do me” or “You just do you.” This thing is just God doing God. It is what He does, and it is what He did today. (We just have to open our eyes to it.)
It played out like this for me. A young female coworker wanted to come see me at my office. Her morning had been a mess, after a few weeks that had been a collective mess, and today was the breaking point. So she reached out for me, “Can I come see you?” the message read. I was preparing to respond to her with an obligatory “SURE!” knowing I would have no way to help her, when an older gentleman at our company knocked on my door. “Have a minute?” he asked.
That minute turned into thirty minutes, and the conversation centered on his passion for seeking wisdom, viewing life with vision, but then it dovetailed into a recap of a recent sermon he had heard from Andy Stanley with the following life question:
In light of my past experience, my present circumstances, and my future hopes and dreams, what’s the wise thing to do?
He went on, rambling sort of off the original topic, about this sermon and how often times EVERYONE else knows what a person should do, but the person himself. The reason for this phenomenon: decisions are not easily made in an emotionally-charged environment.
Then the man remembered what he had come for originally, addressed that briefly, and scuttled toward the door.
I messaged the aforementioned young lady, and she came straight over, holding back the tears.
Wouldn’t you know it, she was in an emotionally-charged situation, one which held absolutely no deep emotional ties to my heart. Therefore, it was pretty easy for me to recognize the destructive course she unknowingly was contemplating taking, and perhaps the better way (In light of her past experience, present circumstances, and future hopes and dreams) to handle the situation. So we worked through that, and came up with a peaceful plan of reconciliation.
I think she left thinking I was pretty wise. And honestly, I think she may have been right, but not because of anything of my own doing. Not because I had great answers or a sharp mind or was in tune with my feminine side, or anything like that. No, I was wise because I listened to the older man, and I looked for God in the situation, and saw how he had provided one encounter as an answer to the other.
That is what I am finding out more each day. God is at work all around us, we just fail to notice or to connect the dots or to see life beyond the crushing to-do list long enough to use what He is putting in front of us.
I don’t know if I have some wise takeaway from today other than that. Wisdom is purely listening for God and using that to determine what, in light of my past experiences, current circumstance, and future hopes and dreams, is the best course of action—both for us and for those in our lives.