God can speak to us through the world around us. I, for one, have had some pretty weird experiences in which God has lined things up very precisely, to do nothing other than just to tell me, “Hi,” and that He is with me. I laugh at this because in the past I would have thought that God would never do such things in order to get someone’s attention unless He was going to communicate some grand mission for them to carry out or bring about some amazing miracle. However, now I look at it and understand that sometimes the Lord really does just want to say, “Hi” to someone.
As I type this, the Lord is telling me that really, He was doing more than just saying, “Hi.” He was telling me that He loves me, that He is with me, and that I have nothing to fear. He says that is why He will sync up little moments in our lives, to show us this truth. He wants us to understand that if He can arrange some seemingly small “coincidence” (I put this word in quotes, because truly, with God, there are no coincidences), He can also organize your entire life.
What exactly then, do I mean by these “coincidences”? What exactly has God lined up for me to speak to me through the world around me? I have a few examples. They might seem funny, and if only one of them happened to me, I might have just laughed it off. However, it has become a pattern that I cannot ignore.
What God has been doing for me is sending me songs at different moments in my life that are too specifically synced up to my life to simply be a coincidence. He has used these songs, or their lyrics, to simply say, “Hi, Thomas. I see you. I am with you. And I am guiding your life, so you have nothing to fear.”
The songs have all been brought into my life at different times, and really, I did nothing to bring them about. I was just experiencing life as I normally would at that time and then heard the song with the specific lyrics speaking to me, echoing in my mind for days as I was in shock at how well they perfectly synced up to my life. Each time, in the moment, I simply thought it was cool. However, now that I look back, I see the pattern and can discern everything more fully to understand that God truly wanted to tell me what He did through these moments.
Here are the moments I am talking about so that you can better understand what I mean.
1. In July 2007, I first heard the song, “Sober”, by Kelly Clarkson. The song starts out with the lyrics, “Three months and I’m still sober.” It just so turns out that I was in my third month of sobriety. This is more interesting to me because I did not listen to the song because I was sober at the time; I listened to it simply because it was a recently released single from Kelly’s latest album. However, after hearing those lyrics, I listened to that song on repeat for the next few weeks.
2. In Summer 2008, I first heard the song, “Viva la Vida”, by Coldplay. It’s still a great song and I like it even more because of where I was when I first heard it. It was specifically the line, “Missionary in a foreign field” that truly made it so special. This is because I happened to be exactly that, as I served as a missionary with a friend in Mexico for 2 months that summer.
3. A few months later, in September 2008, I was invited to an event for the movie, Fireproof. I believe it was actually the premiere, but regardless, I was amazed by one of the songs in the soundtrack. The song was, “While I am Waiting”, by John Waller. The song was all about how to handle those moments in life when God makes you wait. This truly spoke to me at this time, because I was waiting for the girl who broke up with me the previous year to return, after God gave me a miraculous sign telling me to wait for her. If you are curious, you can find that story written here. I was singing the following lyrics to that song over and over again until finally, I did not have to wait anymore.
“I’m waiting, I’m waiting on You Lord
And I am hopeful, I’m waiting on You Lord
Though it is painful, but patiently I will wait
And I will move ahead bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I’m waiting I will serve You
While I’m waiting I will worship
While I’m waiting I will not faint
I’ll be running the race even while I wait”
It’s clear to me that God sent me that song to both help me through that difficult season and remind me of His goodness.
4. This isn’t exactly a song, but it still fits as it happened in a movie that is a musical. The Disney movie, Frozen 2, was released in theaters on November 22, 2019, when I was 34 years 4 months and 24 days old. I share that because randomly in the movie someone talks about being trapped in an enchanted forest for 34 years 5 months and 23 days. While my age doesn’t perfectly coincide with the release date of the movie, being off by 1 month is pretty close, and it also means that the movie was still in theaters when I was 34 years 5 months and 23 days old.
Many might see this as a mere coincidence; however, I firmly believe that with the Lord, there are no coincidences. I am also not saying that this small synchronization was a sign that meant that I was supposed to do this thing or that action. I honestly believe that it was simply God saying, “Hi” to me and reminding me that He is with me.
God does this for people. He is always present in your life bringing about what is best for you, and to remind you of this beautiful truth, He will give you little signs. Furthermore, these signs of love are not limited to songs or movies. In my life, He has also given these signs through other people, the Bible and other books, and the messages at church.
He is a God of love, and love must be communicated. I invite you to look for moments or seemingly coincidental experiences in your life and look into them to see if they are truly signs that God is using to tell you that He is with you. You can do this by asking Him about them and seeing what He says.
God uses the moments and experiences in our lives to communicate with us. Look for these and use them as “conversation starters” with Him or as memorials that you can look back to and remember God’s love for you. If you are struggling with figuring out if it is a sign from God, keep talking to Him about it, and He will help you discern.
If you have any moments like the ones I’ve shared, I would love to hear about them! Please send them in to [email protected].
