Coincidence?

Two Saturdays ago I joined some friends for a trivia night in order to raise funds for missionary work in Kenya. I am always up for trivia and a God-glorifying cause makes it all the better. We briefly held 2nd place (out of 13) but drifted into a tie for 4th by the end of the night. The highlight of the night wasn't knowing how many stories comprise the Empire State Building or guessing correctly the year that Delaware became a state.

Earlier that day, I had been reading an email and felt convicted by the Spirit to give money to a ministry, which is not something that had been in my budget that month. I don't have a lot of discretionary income these days so it wasn't what I would call an easy financial decision but it was the right spiritual response and so I obeyed with little debate or consternation. The result was peace.

So, back to trivia night. They had both a live and silent auction. As it turned out, I didn't bring enough cash to meet the minimum bids on anything. Besides, nothing really caught my eye except the auction item for 8 1-hour guitar lessons. My parents were quite generous in getting me the gift of an acoustic guitar over three years ago but it has mostly gone unused after my initial efforts led to the quick conclusion that I would need professional help in getting my guitar skills off the ground. Due to financial and time considerations, as well as motivation that came and went, I had not passionately pursued a teacher. Yet, there was the auction sheet in front of me with no one signed up by the end of the night. I felt a bit like I was missing an opportunity. But I didn't have the money and I didn't want to ask anyone for a loan.

Since I wasn't able to financially contribute through the auction items, I decided to buy some 50/50 tickets. For those of you who haven't attended a trivia night, this is a pretty common fundraising technique. You can buy these tickets for $1 apiece and a matching ticket to the one you buy goes into a big jar. At the end of the night, they pick out one winning ticket which gets half of the money that was collected and the other half goes to the charity. Most of the time, the winner ends up giving some or all of his/her winnings back. It is charity after all.

So, the first time I tried to get the attention of the woman collecting the 50/50 money, she turned away and went to another part of the room. I patiently waited for her to come back which she eventually did. I purchased 20 tickets and went on with the night.

They finally got around to reading off the winning ticket, and yes, it happened to be one of the tickets I had purchased. I won $127 and I immediately knew what the money was meant for. There is a story I have heard Francis Chan tell on a couple of occasions. He had been out golfing with some of his friends and one of them was using a new driver which he really wanted. His was older and smaller and he really wanted a club that would allow him to hit the ball farther. But he knew he couldn't really justify it financially. He was having this discussion with God as he was driving to a church the following day for a speaking engagement. After he finishes speaking, a church leader comes up to him and says that they don't have the money to pay him. Francis was just going to say that's fine, no worries. Then this guy says...but we would like to offer you this new driver instead. The club was exactly like the one that Francis wanted. He found it amazing that the God of the universe was so intimately involved in his life and so loving toward him that He would arrange for a golf club to end up in his hands.

I felt the same way that night. God knows my heart and He knew that deep down I really want to learn to play and my disappointment in seeing that auction sheet earlier that evening and not being able to do anything about it. I do believe that God gave me an extra blessing because I was obedient earlier in the day but I also believe that I am blessed by God simply because of who He is and how much He loves me. I am blessed through difficulties that strengthen my faith and I am blessed through moments like this that remind me of how much my heavenly Father cares about me.

There are no coincidences with God. It wasn't a coincidence that the minimum bid for the guitar lessons was the exact same amount I gave earlier in the day. It wasn't a coincidence that I couldn't get the woman's attention the first time she came by. As Pastor Braun said to me many years ago, "Don't call it luck. Call it a blessing." Proverbs 16:33 tells us that even the cast of the die is controlled by the sovereignty of God. Nothing happens outside of the control or allowance of God. That night was a special moment between Him and I. It was good.