Serendipity or God's Will?

 

It was a beautiful day in Lake George and I was enjoying the water and the copious sunshine. My  son and grand children were on the beach, while I was enjoying time in the water. While I was splashing around, I overheard a conversation that piqued my interest. I wandered over, listened then joined in a political discussion. At the end I stated , " I believe one of the most important things is to pray." Totally unexpected, the pretty blond raised her hand in a high five.

A long conversation ensued about both our political and spiritual view points. She too believes that our country is in dire need of prayer and repentance. As a leader of  a faith based program, "Celebrate Recovery", she has seen the devastation drugs and alcohol, along with poor parenting, focus on material possession, low self esteem, self-centered culture, violence and godlessness that our society has embraced. You may not think all of those issues are related to drug use, but they are. Just dig a little deeper and get the big picture. 

Though we didn't discuss all these topics we did talk about prodigal children and their struggles with several of these problems. My son happened to return to the water and I called him over and introduced them. He had attended Transformation Life Center, a Christian rehab, and they discussed that for a while with my new friend, Maureen. She knew all the right questions to ask and they spoke for almost ten minutes When they closed the conversation, as he walked back to his children, I suggested we pray. Right there in the middle of beautiful Lake George, we lifted our hearts to God concerning our children and all the prodigals that wandered away from the faith. Afterwards, we parted.

I was so struck by the whole incident--meeting a Bible believing, prayer warrior Christian, right smack dab in the middle of the Adirondacks. Yet an even greater surprise occurred that evening. The family had opted to attend the free barbecue that the hotel was offering, so I cancelled our reservations for the Boat Club. As I was munching on my burger, I turned around and saw Maureen. Surprised, I walked over to her table. Sitting there was an acquaintance of mine I hadn't seen in about fifteen years. Totally shocked, I called over to my husband and he didn't recognize her because it had been so long, but I did. We reconnected and chatted. She too was a Christian and facing some difficult issues. her father had just passed away and she was very close to him. I knew him as I was also friends with her two brothers and one of her brothers had lived around the corner from my husband and I. Sue, my former friend, knew Maureen and attended the same church. I gave her my phone number and I hope she will call.

The next day, as I pondered these events, it confirmed that God's timing is perfect. This hotel had no vacancies on the night the two woman stayed and so they must have pre-booked it as we had. The beach we met on was a private beach with only the hotel guests. We had planned not to be there at that time as I had made early dinner reservations, but then I saw the hotel offered the free barbecue, so we cancelled our original plans. All of this served as a reminder of God's sovereignty. If I hadn't cancelled, I would have missed out on three great blessings--meeting Maureen, praying with her, and reacquainting with an old friend. You may call it chance or serendipity, but I call it the hand of God guiding us towards His will!

Temples of Gold

I've been reading Exodus lately and I use to think it a boring book with so many facts, but this time around the details of the incredible artistry and craftsmenship that went into the making of the ark of the covenant, the lampstands, the tapestries, the priestly garments, the curtains, and on and on is breathtaking. Since I'm reading about it in an Archeological Study Bible, I'm learning a lot of historical information such as the amazing amount of gold and silver and precious stones used. It's estimated that over a ton of gold and 3 tons of silver went into the creation of the sanctuary.Those are staggering figures considering gold sells for almost $1,000 an ounce these days! Unfortunately, all of this was plundered ages ago, but the lessons we can learn will never be lost or buried.

After reading this for years, I received a fresh revelation about the ark of the covenant, which was created to house the spirit of God between the two cheribum that sat atop of the ark (Exodus 37). The Bible also mentions the name of the major craftsmen who fashioned the ark--Bezalel. The skill needed to do this was of a very high caliber. "He also made the mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits was its length and a cubit and a half its width. He made two cherubim of beaten gold; he made them of one piece at the two ends of the mercy seat: one cherub at one end on this side, and the other cherub at the other end on that side" (Exodus 37: 6-8).
When I remembered the purpose of the ark, to house the Spirit of God, and the words of Paul that "your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit" ( 1 Corinthians 6:19 ,I realized the value God accords us. When we accept Christ into our lives, the Spirit of God comes to dwell within us. We who are flesh and blood, jars of clay, become the ark for the presence of the Holy Spirit!Thiank about that for a while. God esteems us of more value then precious gold. We become the living temple, the holy of holies and the ark of the covenant because we live in Christ and He is in us!

Instead of God dwelling in a temple of gold on the outside, He creates a golden temple within us.All our trials, persecutions, setbacks, difficuties and final victories burn off the impurities and refine us into pure gold. God continues to live in a temple of gold, but it's fashioned by His hand, not man. Even though Bezalel was highly skilled, God is more then capable of accomplishing a more beautiful work, one that is both internal and eternal. A creation that cannot be lost, plundered or deteriorated. Now that is hideous cost of fuel.)