I love this story because it's true, because it happened to me, and, ultimately, because it so clearly displays God's hand. During the decade of the '80s, I spent my time in the Air Force. In late 1989, two years into my 3rd 4-year reenlistment, I got a call from a friend I had worked with in the first enlistment. He offered me a job with a company in California. "Well," I told him, "I have 2 more years before I can even entertain it." "My vice-president is coming to Syracuse" (where I was), he told me, "and if you'll meet with him, he can interview you and make an offer." So, knowing it couldn't happen, I met with him. And he made me an offer -- more than $10,000 over the minimum I thought I'd need to live in California. Still ... two years. But God ...
It was soon after that we were notified that the government wanted to decrease the size of the military. They said that anyone that wanted out, from new enlistees on up, could get out. I was an instructor at the time and I went to my superiors and said I'd like to do it. "Oh, no," they told me, "the plan is to make this base the advanced training base for the entire northeast quadrant of the U.S. We can't let you go. In fact, we need 4 more like you just in your career field." So, I filed the request, expecting a "no." To my surprise and the surprise of my superiors, it came back approved. So, after 10 years in the Air Force, I was being let go with an honorable discharge (and 3 months of leave to finish out before I was discharged). I said goodbye to my group, packed up the family, and drove from central New York to southern California. We moved temporarily in with my parents while I secured the job I was offered and ... I was told there was no job. The company that made the offer was not only not hiring; they were going out of business. And I thought, "God???"
Well, I started searching in earnest for a job. I had experience in electronics up to and including teaching it. Should be lots of opportunities. I had lots of interviews, but no bites. My father visited Orange County and came back with a newspaper, so I looked in there, too. And I called one of the ads to see about an interview. They invited me up and I went and spent the day being interviewed by 6 or 8 different people. At one point, the VP of Electronics asked me, "Where did you hear about the job?" I said, "In the ad in the newspaper." He looked at the others and said, "Did we put an ad in the newspaper?" They all shook their heads. They hired me soon thereafter, waived my 90-day probation, and applied my benefits (including medical) immediately ... the day before my military leave and benefits ran out.
"Coincidence," some might argue. Perhaps. But when you pile "coincidence" after "coincidence" on top of each other until you have a whole column of them, "coincidence" doesn't seem to cut it. "Design" is a better word. "The hand of God" is more reasonable. Fortunately, all of it was out of my hands, so I take no mistaken credit for a great job that lasted the next decade until my wife and I left the state for "greener pastures" ... in Arizona ... so maybe not "greener," but you get the idea. You may wonder if there is a God or, maybe, just if He's personal or not, but I know it. I am an eyewitness.
11 comments:
If only it didn't take so much for God to get our attention to rely on Him in everything, so that when our time of need comes, we wouldn't be worried when things became dire. Even the most righteous man in the land started to falter after so much oppression. Thank the Lord that He is always faithful, even and especially when we are not.
That is a neat story (including that you found “greener pastures” in the Arizona desert! :) I too have experienced how “coincidences” (as viewed in our very finite perspective) are merely “circumstances” that God works together with timely finesse in a Master Plan that is only visible in hindsight. His omniscience and omnipotence make light work of any seemingly difficult task. I often say to God, “Lord, You are the only One who can fix this.” He always “rises to the challenge,” so to speak; nothing is impossible with God! (Jer. 32:17; Matt. 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 1:37, 18:27) How I count on that!
As an aside (the traveler in me had to comment :), I know the Syracuse, NY, area a little bit (both my parents grew up in Niagara Falls, NY). My husband & I have passed through Syracuse (a rather economically depressed area) several times on road trips to the Falls (both sides--Canada’s is much better!) as well as Toronto and Ottawa. Hopefully you got to see the Falls and to visit the lovely Thousand Islands and Finger Lakes areas before leaving NY state.
It's amazing how, for me at least, these things become so clear in hindsight. On the rare occasions when things have been clear in real time, I'm always amazed and grateful.
I experience a "coincidence" when meeting my wife. I became a believer in January 1974, three months before my 22nd birthday, 13 months before my ETS from the Army. I began praying about getting a wife. The previous year my grandmother sent me a 1" pin of Snoopy as a pilot. Not long after praying for a wife my pin got broken. My last leave was the beginning of August and my grandmother told me she bought the pin at the Mall. When I got the the girl behind the counter had no clue but Jill had just hung those up and changed places with the one I was talking to. We chatted for about 15 minutes and I enjoyed it so much I came back the next day and asked her out. That was 50 years ago August 1st. We have ever since talked about how God arranged that meeting. We married two years after we met (I had to get out of the Army, get a job, find a place to live besides with my brother, and she finished her 2nd year of college--she was 18 when we met--and she wasn't to marry on the anniversary of our meeting).
I’ve been thinking about the word, “coincidence.” An online definition reads: “A coincidence is a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances that have no apparent causal connection with one another.” I also saw this quote online, attributed to Albert Einstein: “Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.” I’m not exactly sure how he meant that, but it strikes me that those of us who know God and are watching Him at work in our lives would never see Him as “anonymous” but very much revealing Himself to us. Even when He uses unremarkable events or circumstances to fulfill His plan--as He very often does--I still know that they do have “causal connection with one another”--and that connection is a sovereign God who has ordained and/or knows about every one of those circumstances. Therefore, as you say, “coincidences” can clearly be seen as from God’s Hand by design. Where nonbelievers might say, “wow, what a coincidence!” we say, “wow, what a God!”
"and she wasn't to marry"... should be "wanted to marry". need to proof-read better.
That is quite the story, Glenn; I would call your “coincidence” a God thing! Congratulations on your 50th anniversary together with your wife! (My husband & I reached that milestone on 2/21/22, having met in our 10th grade English high school class. Also a God thing! :)
Years ago a radio talk show host talked about walking around Sedona, Arizona. He came across two rocks, one on top of the other, and wondered, "What would cause that?" He came across another pile of four. Even harder to imagine. Then he came across a pile of 10. His question to the audience was, "How many does it take for you to conclude it's not natural, not coincidence, but someone doing it?" We like "coincidence" as a possibility, but with God there is no such thing. Glenn's story and mine say the same thing; too much coincidence denies coincidence.
Lorna, Don't misunderstand-- it was 50 years ago we met, but just 48 since we wed :)
I understood that, Glenn. I meant “together with your wife as a couple.” (Likewise, the 2/21/22 date I mentioned was the 50th anniversary of our first date at age 16; we are still 4 years away from our 50th wedding anniversary.)
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