Coincidence? Or Maybe God 'Winked' at You?

Have you ever been thinking of someone in the middle of the day, and all of a sudden, your phone rings and they’re on the other end of the line?  Or, have you ever found yourself stuck in an awkward situation, and you weren’t sure what to do? 

Maybe after placing your order at Dunkin’ Donuts you realize you left your wallet at home?  Or, in the middle of a hectic day, your car breaks down on the side of a busy road?  Just when you have no idea what to do next, something happens that you never could have planned for? 

Maybe the person standing in line next to you pays for your coffee.  A stranger pulls off the road and offers to wait with you until help arrives.  Some people call these things “coincidences.” 

A friend of mine likes to call them “God Winks.”  She had read about this approach to the coincidences in our lives in the book: “When God Winks” by Squire Rushnell.  She believes, as the author does, that what we might consider coincidence is really a moment when God is fully present for us -- “winking” at us in the phone calls, the helping hands, and the Good Samaritans that pop in and out of our lives.

This past Sunday, God winked at me.  I was out with the Mobile Loaves and Fishes team driving around Providence in a catering truck that delivers food, clothing, and cold drinks to the homeless.  It’s a cooperative project that is shared among five churches in Barrington, and teams are at work each week preparing food to serve one hundred people, loading the truck, and driving all over Rhode Island. 

This past Sunday, we stopped at Burnside Park, and in a matter of 30 minutes or so, we emptied the entire truck.  Every sandwich, granola bar, banana, cookie, hot dog, and bag of chips had been given out to the people we met.  After the last glass of lemonade was poured, our team decided it was time to call it a day. 

As we began closing up and prepared to head for home, a woman approached the truck.  It’s a tough thing to have to tell someone who’s hungry that they just missed being last in line for food.  With nothing on the truck left to give, we had to turn her away.  I apologized that we didn’t have something for her, but to my surprise, she simply smiled and said “That’s okay.  God is good!” 

And that’s when God winked.  Every Sunday, I begin our worship with those same words: “God is good…”  And every Sunday, the congregation replies “All the time!”  Her words struck me. 

It’s amazing that someone who was last in line, when there’s nothing left to receive could smile that way, and still believe in God’s goodness.  I smiled back and said what I’m so used to hearing: “All the time!”

Jesus once said: “The last will be first and the first will be last.” (Matthew 20:16)  I hope that this proved to be true, somewhere for that woman.  That though she was the last one to reach the Mobile Loaves and Fishes, that somewhere she will be the first in line to be fed. 

Who knows?  Maybe that woman experienced a God Wink of her own later that day, and someone else stepped into her life to help, to offer something to eat when we couldn’t.  I pray that they did, and I know that if it happened for her, that she recognized God winking at her!

The next time you get that strange feeling that something is too powerful to simply be a coincidence, take a look around because God might be close by, winking at you!

P.S.  The Mobile Loaves and Fishes is a great place to experience places where God winks all the time.  You can read more in one of the articles that have been posted on the Barrington Patch.