It's a God Thing...

     Last Wednesday, I was at a wonderful church in North Las Vegas called Celebration.  Expecting to show up and hear a message, I was surprised when the main pastor switched things up by having the congregation spend the entire service in prayer and worship.  It was a very powerful evening for the whole congregation.  As worship music began radiating through the beams of light which quickly spread all across the room, many men and women lifted their hands high or were on their knees praising God. The Holy Spirit had engulfed our fellowship with glorious worship and praise.  There wasn’t a silent moment.  Each second was filled with worship, prayer, and even tears of joy. 

      I, however, couldn’t help but feel like the only person in the room clearing my throat, itching my arms, and peeking through squinted eyes in wonder of how everyone could be so unaware of their physical bodies, while I felt alone in my own skin.  I tried, oh how I tried, but as I was on my knees praying for God to reveal the source of the separation, I felt like there was a barrier between my body and spirit.  It was as if I was gasping for air. I was right there in the sea of God’s grace, and at the same time I felt like I was being held to the ground by an unrecognizable anchor. 

     “God, please help me hear you in this moment. Please show me what it is that is keeping me from experiencing what everyone around me seems to be inflamed by,” I desperately prayed.  I was so frustrated about having such a difficult time worshiping, when suddenly; it was as if I heard a faint whisper in my heart. It was a response to my prayer. “Look in your hand,” the voice said.   As I glanced down, I realized I had been clutching a cross necklace the whole time.  The necklace had been given to me by an old friend who was an atheist (non-believer).  She picked the souvenir up during a 3 week trip she made across Europe in 2008.  When she returned, she told me about all the partying she had been involved in.  She explained her many acts of debauchery and sin throughout the trip and then after presented me with the cross necklace.  I hadn’t really thought anything of it, until the very moment the voice spoke to me and I looked down to realize I had been clinging onto it the whole time.

     I felt a strong urge to take the necklace off! I took the chain in both hands and even lifted it halfway half way up the back of my head as to take it off, but in doing so I started to second guess myself about the whole thing.  “Why would GOD want me to remove a cross from my neck? Maybe it was the enemy at work trying to get me to remove it,” I said to myself.  So I left the jewelry on.  Just in case, I prayed, “In the Name of Jesus, I rebuke all ungodly ties bound to this cross.” Although I prayed, I still spent the rest of the time in worship and prayer with the same feeling of disconnection and confusion, praying for God to reveal to me the source of these feelings. 

     On the drive home, attributing the disconnection to hunger and exhaustion, I let the whole situation flee from my mind.  I figured if the necklace really had ties with ungodly things, my prayer for God to remove them was enough.

     When I got home, I decided to take the dog on a walk.   We weren’t outside for more than 2 minutes before he jumped up and literally yanked the chain right off my neck and then spit it out on the ground!  It took me 3 seconds to realize what had just gone down.  Coincidence?  Nah….

     Sometimes things happen in life that are so bizarre or perfectly timed that we wonder how it could be anything else but a GOD THING.  Most non-believers would say it was just another coincidence or it happened by chance.  But me, I don’t believe in coincidences.  Whether we end up sitting next to another Christian on the bus, run into an old friend at the grocery store, meet a homeless man that loves Jesus, have a dog destroy something that is not of God, or meet the love of our life on a dating website, we know these things are nothing short of a moment carefully planned by God.  It may be hard to see the big picture in the meaning of all of these pre-planned occurrences, but God knows, and when someone asks me about it I just tell them IT’S A GOD THING.   -KMK

Psalm 139: 13-16

“13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”