The God of Split-Second Timing

In the early hours of Thursday, February 23, I said to my adult daughter as we each left the house for the day, “Let’s stay in touch via short texts about each other’s whereabouts!” Little did I know that soon after I said those words, the AT&T network would go down for several hours for a large portion of the nation’s customers. I was able to use my GPS to get me to a meeting about an hour from home, but when I returned to my car to go home, GPS support was no longer available for AT&T customers like me and neither were texts, emails or phone calls.

“Well Lord, I guess we are going to do life the old-fashioned way today like we did before phones.”

I took the long way home from the meeting. I didn’t get “lost-lost,” but it took an extra thirty minutes to pull into my driveway. At this point I had no idea where any family member was or how to reach them. Thankfully, our home internet service-provider is not AT&T so I got to do some work at the computer.

My daughter arrived home.

Surprise! We decided to head to the hospital to visit a family member who is awaiting heart surgery. As was my practice before cell phones, I printed out MapQuest directions to and from the hospital. With paper directions in hand, we set off for the hospital, unable to alert the patient that we were on the way.

After parking, we headed to the room. Just prior to getting on an elevator to the patient’s room, my daughter decided to grab some coffee at a Starbucks near the elevators.

The miracles began.

As we got in line to place our order a young woman in scrubs got in line behind us. We knew her! She and my daughter had been friends in high school and she had attended a bible study in our home while in high school over ten years ago. The three of us exchanged hugs multiple times each. We were so glad to see each other!

Another miracle happened.

Turns out, the woman in scrubs works with the doctor overseeing the care of our loved one in the hospital! There in the line at Starbucks she offered credible words of comfort and assurance about the high quality care our loved one is receiving. To think this young woman might even be in the operating room when our family member gets surgery brings so much hope and comfort.

Then another miracle happened.

With coffees in hand, my daughter and I got on an elevator and pressed the floor where we were headed. As the doors opened, there stood a second young woman neither of us had seen in over ten years. She had randomly decided to visit our family member that day also. That makes two significant meetings in 30 minutes!

Happy hugs were once again exchanged. She was headed back to her hometown in another state so we don’t know when our paths will cross again. I was reminded of those split-second misses so common in Hollywood movies. You know the ones. Two people miss each other by seconds as elevator doors close on one person just as doors open seconds later for another. Truth is, had my daughter and I been ten seconds later getting into the elevator, the second chance meeting would not have occurred.

Are we missing miracles?

AT&T restored service just as my daughter and I returned to our car, so we didn’t need the paper directions to get home. Since then, I have been thinking about the really great day I had without phone support. Miracles happened and I had a strong sense in every minute that God was near and involved in all details of my life.

The day was miraculous.

Without a working phone, I was alert to much more than usual. For example, I paid more attention to where I was driving and carefully read street names because a device wasn’t doing all the thinking for me. By society’s standards, I was being “inefficient” as I made some wrong turns, but my inefficiency had miracles in it like being in line at Starbucks and taking an elevator just on time! Neither would have occurred if we had arrived at the hospital earlier.

I wonder if our “efficiency” has made our days more self-driven than God-driven. Perhaps we are walking with the Lord just as closely with our phones in hand, but God had the AT&T network go down for a few hours for the good of us all.

• A reminder that we do not have as much control over things as we are apt to believe.
• A reminder that we don’t need devices for God to be in all the details of our lives.
• A reminder that God can mess with our plans any ol’ time He wants for our good and His glory: In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. (Proverbs 16:9)
• A reminder that miracles still happen.

Picture Explanation: Lots of dogs in my life this week and the daughter (with her retriever) who shared the miracles with me.

Speaking of living with in a way that invites God into everything we do: If you are interested in being contacted to participate in a One Gritty Blink Bible study, click on the Oaks Ministries link below and send me an email so I can place you on a list to be contacted as online and face-to-face studies are planned. Let’s not just focus on things in this short life, but also what counts for eternity!

Note: No part of my posts are derived from A.I. Thoughts and writing stem from my mind and heart as I process life week-by-week and continue to grow in my understanding of God and how to apply His wisdom to the world around me.

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