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

Synchronicity: God's Alignment by Sharon Espeseth

Synchronicities in the Bible

Joseph with His Jealous Brothers

Was it pure luck that Joseph, after being thrown in a pit by his brothers, ended up in Egyptian courts? That's where his brothers found him years later during a famine. Joseph, in charge of supplies, offered food to his family. His brothers, expecting retaliation, had been fearful upon meeting Joseph.

Acknowledging God had put him there, Joseph allayed their fears. "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
(Genesis 50:19-20)

The Old Testament is filled with stories of people who were at the right place at the right time in order to carry out God's plan.

Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

Without Cell Phones

In the days before his crucifixion, Christ organized his final days. Before his ride through Jerusalem, Jesus needed a donkey. He sent two disciples to the next village with instructions about where to find a donkey and her colt. "Untie them and bring them to me," Jesus said. "If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away." (Matthew 21:2-3)

With arrangements for his last supper with his disciples, Jesus didn't call ahead to book the upper room. He told his disciples to go to the city and look for a man carrying a jug of water. They were to follow him until he entered a house and then approach him saying, "The Teacher asks: 'Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there." (Luke 22:11-12)

Throughout all of history and again today, God aligns things for us. Even when we are reaping the consequences of our mistakes, God orchestrates situations to our benefit. As Christians, " . . . We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Roman 8:28)


What Is Synchronicity?

There are many definitions and discussions about synchronicity on the Internet, but finding something sound and succinct isn't easy. One blogger said that synchronicity is a concept one cannot understand by hearing about it. One needs to see it for oneself. Synchronicity must be "caught instead of taught."

Carl Jung, the early 20th century psychoanalyst was the first to coin the term synchronicity as "a phenomenon that occurs when two seemingly unrelated events occur close to one another, and the person experiencing the events interprets this correlation as meaningful." I believe he also referred to synchronicity as "meaningful coincidences."

I found some answers at https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-coincidence.html,
including the following etymology of the word "coincidence."


The word coincidence is translated from the Greek word synkyrian, which is a combination of two words: sun and kurios. Sun means “together with,” and kurious means “supreme in authority.” So a biblical definition of coincidence would be “what occurs together by God’s providential arrangement of circumstances.”


Is this where Jung got the word, "synchronous" and thus "synchronicity?"

Synchronicity and Me

Looking back, I recognize, and am thankful for, many synchronous times and events, but I will restrict my telling.

1. June 1: Sandi Somers listed The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron as a resource. Located book at
home. Began reading.

2. June 8: Identified with author's ideas on "blocked creative." Started writing Morning Pages.

3. June 25: Started Week One, Day One. Expectations: Write Morning Pages, 3 per day. Plan and carry out 1 2-hour, solitary Artist's Date per week. Written Check-In at week's end. Do not read Morning Pages. (Put in envelope or don't go back in notebook.)

Cameron provides Exercises and Tasks. To do the program effectively, participants should do Exercises and some of Tasks.

4. June 22: Check-In for Week Three and every week thereafter asks,

"Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it?" 

Began looking for synchronicity. Recording pleasant, unexpected happenings, plans that unfolded like a river going downstream.

5. Observations as weeks progress: More synchronicity. More abundant flow in my life. Increased awareness of synchronous happenings. More writing. Getting more done.

Morning Pages become increasingly more spiritual experience. Written prayers and Bible quotations
pop into my head. More frequently offer worries, complaints and needs to God. Ask God for wisdom for myself and others. Less fixing. Learning to let go and let God. Morning Pages more devotional.

6. Keeping up with program. Repeated two weeks when I didn't cover enough ground.

7. Surprised to discover this month's blog theme of "Synchronicity."

8. Week 9: Surprise! One of Tasks is re-reading Morning Pages. Coloured markers in hand, I  Take Stock, Take Heart, and Acknowledge.
Acknowledge synchronicity and how it blessed my life.

*Bible texts are in The New International Bible.

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