A friend recently posted that she was having a difficult day at work, then reached for her lunch and found a heart-shaped potato chip in her bag and was reminded of how much God loves her.
I told her that was sweet and that I have a similar relationship with God. There's this chink in the floor at work, right as I'm getting near my unit, that is heart-shaped, and it catches my eye every time, and I remember the goodness of God.
At my desk, which I share with other coworkers when I am not on duty, there's a recessed area behind the computer screen, and at a time when I knew one of my coworkers needed some encouragement, I plastered that little recessed wall with blue paper and stuck affirmation stickers all over it so she would see positive messages when she came in. You can only see these affirmations when you're physically sitting at our desk.
As I was walking past the chaplain's office and the chapel in the hospital one day a few months ago, I suddenly noticed for the first time that the number code above the door is 144 and 145; my life has been filled with 4s and 44s for almost forever; it's a number that holds a special meaning for me. So now, I smile every time I walk by those doors because I believe that one day, God will give me those doors for my ministry...for His ministry. In His timing, of course.
Everyone seems to have something. Don't we? We all have that thing that shows up in secret, quietly sneaking into our consciousness in the place we least expect to find it. Maybe we're the only ones who see it. Maybe no one else understands the significance. Maybe no one else would ever "get it," even if we explained it a thousand times. But we all have that thing. That thing that sneaks in and reminds us that God loves us, that He's with us, that He's working in and for and through us.
And...of course we do.
Isaiah 45:3 says, "I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name."
In other words, God's always been tucking away secret treasures for you - little things nobody else would see, things that lighten your heart and make you remember how much He loves you, how good He is, how much He cares for you, that He's working in and for and through you. That in the course of a no good, very rotten day, He is still right there with you. That on your best days, He's rejoicing with you. That in the times and places where you maybe least expect Him, there He still is. With you. Knowing you, loving you, calling you by name. Just you.
That potato chip was an act of God's love. Whatever happened to the floor at work to take that specific chink out of it in that specific place was an act of God's love. It might have felt like an accident at the time. Sometimes, it feels like circumstance or happenstance. But it's not.
It's love. God just loves you.
What secret things is He tucking away in hidden places to remind you of that?
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