I quit believing in coincidences when I was 19 years old. I would love to report that I had a great desire to go on missions and serve the Lord; however, the story goes more like all of my friends at the Baptist Student Union at my college were applying to be summer missionaries, and I had typical FOMO - fear of missing out. When my assignment came, Allentown, Pennsylvania held my summer experience. But God’s great and mighty way took what I planned as a grand summer adventure and used it to start broadening my very naïve mind and spirit.
Upon arriving for training in Pennsylvania, I immediately bonded with my partner who also shares a birthday of 9/11. First “coincidence”
I was such a little selfish teenage monster that I don’t even remember the name of the pastor and his family that took us in and cared for us. I remember they were from Alabama and that the pastor‘s wife worked full-time along with the responsibility of caring for her two small children while her husband pastored a very tiny Southern Baptist Church with around 160 members.
Looking back, I’m ashamed of my behavior. I expected the pastor’s wife to come in from work and prepare meals and care for us. Rather than making her life easier by sharing some of her burdens, I made demands and complained. I guess having additional self-centered humans to care for pushed her to her breaking point. When she and her husband went home to Alabama for a week of summer vacation, they never returned. Our representative from the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board told us that she informed her husband that he was free to return to Allentown, but she and the children were staying in Alabama near the support of family and friends.
Now the mission board wondered what in the world they were going to do with two 19-year-olds and no pastor to shepherd his congregation. The church was slated to host a major area wide youth event and now had no leadership to carry out the conference. The church also had been advertising neighborhood backyard vacation Bible clubs. But with no pastor to provide direction, how were these events supposed to take place?
At this point, God revealed the true magnitude of how He orchestrates all, and how He cares for each and every detail of our lives.
The first family that took us in, both husband (Charles) and wife (Nadine) grew up in Bastrop, Louisiana. Upon talking with them, we quickly realized that Nadine’s sister worked at Central Bank for my father. Charles was a chemical engineering graduate from Louisiana Tech and had been sent to Allentown only a few months prior to our arrival to assist a company in dismantling one of the area steel plants. With Nadine taking the reins of leadership, the area youth conference happened and was actually a great success. The family’s tenure in that community only lasted a very brief time, but they were there at God’s appointed time.
The second family that allowed us to live with them and conduct backyard Bible clubs in their neighborhood was originally from Kentucky, the home state of my partner. It didn’t take us long to realize that both my partner’s father and our host family had graduated from the University of Kentucky together and knew one another because they both majored in accounting.
From that moment on, I recognized that there are absolutely no such things as coincidences. God places you where you are, when you are, for His purposes, and He will always use you for His glory, if you are willing.
So it is no coincidence that my first writing after burying my beloved father addresses the great multitude.
In Chapter 7 of Revelation, John receives a vision prior to the blowing of the seventh trumpet. Four angels stand at the four corners of the earth, holding back the winds “so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.” Revelation 7:1. The angels are not allowed to release the judgement of the Lord, represented by the winds, until the “servants of our God” have received the seal of God. John then sees “a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number…crying out in a loud voice: Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen” Revelation 7:9, 12.
When John is questioned regarding the great multitude, he states that “these are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.” Revelation 7:14. Theologians use this verse to partially explain the rapture or when God takes his sealed believers into heaven prior to the period of great judgement. I’m not going to wade into the weeds regarding all the theories surrounding the rapture of God’s people because again, no one knows. We can theorize all we want and hope we do not have to experience the coming judgment of God. People of every generation, including Jesus’ disciples, have predicted the end of the world is near, and God's wrath is upon the earth.
My point is that “great tribulation” comes to all people at some point in their lives. I have questioned God a great deal lately about the almost unbearable burdens affronting me over the last few months. Many days I’ve shaken my fist to heaven and screamed that I cannot cope with one more thing. Life is simply too hard, and I don’t understand why.
Then the rest of Revelation 7 comes into clear focus through the tears:
The One seated on the throne will shelter them:
They will no longer hunger,
They will no longer thirst;
The sun will not strike them nor will any scorching heat.
For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will Shepherd them;
He will guide them to springs of the waters of life,
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. 16-17
In 1986, God very patiently taught me there are no coincidences. When caring for my two young children pushed me to exhaustion, the pastor’s wife from Allentown, Pennsylvania popped into my mind. I felt God’s guiding hand directing me through the mayhem. When life overwhelms, I remember God's promises. When fear threatens to overtake, I remember His provision is enough for the day. When I have no strength, I remember His peace buoys my fragile spirit. When I endlessly question, I remember His grace is sufficient. When I have no motivation to write, I see my father among the great multitude and hear his beautiful voice cry out, “Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Revelation 7:10. I receive comfort knowing my daddy was sealed, and he now stands with the saints, praising his Savior.
Even in the darkest, most desolate times of our lives, God shines precious moments of His mercy and grace. Even when overwhelmed and nothing but doubt and questions swirl in the chaos of the mind, peace can be found in the knowledge that you are among the number of the sealed and have the promise of eternity. If you do not have this assurance, there is no time like the present. Do not let one more moment pass without the promise of the salvation of the Lamb. Tribulation surrounds us all, but God says to not fear His judgement but rather, “I the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, Fear Not! I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13. (By the way, that was the verse of the day on the YouVersion Bible App) Coincidences do not exist. However, a loving Father who intimately guides and provides waits for us to call out to Him. He patiently holds back the winds waiting for ALL to be sealed. Thanks be to God.
His Eye Is on the Sparrow
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