I think I’ve written before about times when things seem to fall into place.
On this occasion, it was all about something I felt that I needed to say to a friend. I was struggling with how and when to make contact. It just wouldn’t wait, it needed to be done the next day. A harsh thing that they had said about another of my friends – in front of other people – had really got to me. I thought they were out of order and it kept bugging me.
Now I’m someone who finds it really hard to engage with conflict and to challenge people, so this was a problem. I really needed to speak with them, and it wasn’t something I wanted to do on the phone. I needed to see them face to face. So I sent up a prayer that God would help me speak with them.
As it turned out, our schedule at home the next day was quite a bit later than usual. We slept in a bit longer than normal, and then had a phone call, so all in all I was about an hour behind at least.
Then on my round of day to day jobs around the town, I was just emerging from the supermarket, when I just happened to see the person I needed to talk to. We chatted for a while about things we had in common, and then I said … ‘This is amazing. I don’t usually come this way at this time of day … could we go and have a coffee somewhere ?’ Which we did, and in the course of the conversation, I was able to say what had been building up in me. As we spoke, they admitted that what they had said was unkind. I don’t know if my words had really changed anything in them, but the fact of having spoken was the important thing.
We cannot take responsibility for what others do, think or say – all that we can do is take full responsibility for our own words and actions
On the way home, I just kept thanking God for the ‘chance’ meeting. It had cleared my head, and cleared the air. It was one of those moments where everything came together in a remarkable way.
Often, I’ll admit I don’t have a clue what’s going on, and what God is up to, but I do know that God is in it with me, even down to the small details.
Grace and Peace
Five Short Words 