Coincidence?

The second definition in Mom and Dad's "Webster's New World Dictionary" from 1976 says that coincidence is: "an accidental and remarkable occurence of events, ideas, etc. at the same time, with no apparent causal relationship". Well, then, I have to confess that though some might say that the following events were coincidence, I believe there is a purpose and the causal relationship is God.

Yesterday, John and the kids and I went to the early service at River Oaks Community Church in Clemmons, NC. We have lots of old (well, not necessarily "old", but we've known them for a long time;) friends there that we wanted to hug before we leave. Pastor David taught on the story of Joseph from Genesis and he pointed out that Joseph honored God by obeying Him when tempted; by trusting Him, even in adversity; and by acknowledging Him before others. And God made Joseph fruitful in every circumstance: in slavery, in prison, and in prosperity.

We thought it was very interesting that the week before, at Manly Pres. in Southern Pines, NC, John's dad preached on the very same passage of Scripture! Pappy's message that day was about forgiveness and restoration of the relationship between Joseph and his family.

Well, from the early service at River Oaks, we were heading to the second service at Reynolda Pres. (our home church) in Winston-Salem, NC. The kids were rather weary of structure for the day, but I told Joey and John that I was interested to see what Pastor Alan at Reynolda would preach about. I said that if he preached about Joseph, then I was sure that the Lord had a Word for us!

So...after an awesome time of praise and worship through singing, we settled into our pew and Alan began to preach. He said something like this: "Today we're going to look at Genesis 37 (I looked at John with wide eyes!) and the story of Joseph." NO WAY! He also brought out the message of forgiveness and restoration of relationships from Genesis 45. Joseph understood the grace of God. He understood that life isn't fair and that he was blessed despite his flaws. By accepting God's grace, Joseph was able to forgive his brothers and his family was restored to him. Pastor Alan also pointed out that the deepest form of giving is to forgive or pardon. And, the person who can forgive is the most free!

I have to say that these events were no "accident", but were, indeed, remarkable! Praise God for His subtle (or not so subtle) Words of encouragement!

Blessings today,
Jenny