Chance or God's Perfect Timing? By Ruth L. Snyder

As I write this blog post, our InScribe Fall Conference is less than two weeks away. Robert Burns said, "The best laid plans of mouse and men often go astray." The committee received notification on Thursday that one of our workshop leaders will not be able to attend conference or present a workshop, due to health issues. I had the natural human reaction - panic. After my mind started racing through all the "what if"s, I stopped and prayed. After all, if I say I believe God is always in control, and His plan is always best, then He obviously has an answer for every dilemma.

 

 I enrolled in Chandler Bolt's Self Publishing School several weeks ago. Minutes after I started praying, I received an email that said, "This training session isn't officially part of Self-Publishing School. Instead it's my gift to you for taking action and committing to your success." The free training was a webinar on the exact subject the workshop leader was scheduled to present about—something I've explored before, and was planning to dig into further. Long story short, I will be presenting the workshop.

Chance, or God's perfect timing? Throughout my life I have experienced many of these incidents that continue to remind me of God's loving hand in my life.

My husband and I had been discussing adoption for a few months. We looked into options, requested information from adoption agencies, and prayed for God's guidance. The night we sat down to fill out an application with Adoption Options, we received a phone call from our sister-in-law. Her sister wanted us to adopt her 8-month-old baby. The phone call came on a Thursday; we were asked to pick up the baby the next Monday. That is how our oldest daughter, Grace, joined our family. The day this post goes live just happens to be her 20th birthday.

On the more humorous side, last week I drove into Edmonton to pick up boxes of InScribe's newest anthology, Christmas: Stories & More. About half way home I noticed the gas tank was getting close to the quarter tank mark. I checked the "distance to empty" and figured out I should be able to get back to Glendon to fill up, with about 20 kilometers to spare. (When I filled up that morning, gas was less than a dollar a litre, but everywhere else it was at least $1.05/litre.) I knew there were at least two gas stations between where I was and the gas station in Glendon. When I passed the first gas station, I checked again and everything was right on track. Then, I went past the second gas station. The gauge seemed to be going down faster, but I figured I would still make it. When I was 16 kilometers from Glendon, the "distance to empty" also said 16. That's when I started to pray. "Lord, help me to make it to the gas station, please. I know I should have filled up before, but it's too late now." I reached the 8 kilometer mark, and now the gauge said the tank would be empty in two kilometers. I kept driving and praying, thinking about who I knew along the road in case the van stopped. The "distance to empty" read zero, and I still had six kilometers to go. I kept praying, and driving. Somehow, the van made it, not just to Glendon, but also to the gas station. After I filled up, the "distance to empty" was 638 kilometers. I had driven 674 kilometers. I'm so glad God had mercy, despite my foolish decision. But I have also decided I will fill up when the gas tank is no lower than a quarter tank from now on!

Have you experienced God's perfect timing in your life? I'd love to hear your stories. Please share in the comments below, and let's praise God together!

Every day is a new adventure for Ruth, her husband, Kendall, and their five children. Sometimes those adventures are self-inflicted!

Ruth is on a mission to help creative people live their passion. You can find out more about Ruth's adventures and RLS Creativity at http://ruthlsnyder.com