No Accident
God orchestrates things much better than I ever could. He’s so good.
I had been thinking about getting away for a couple of nights for a spiritual retreat. Wasn’t sure where to go or when. I just knew I needed time alone with God.
It’s no accident that a few a weeks ago, Chip won a bid at a charity silent auction on a week at a Palm Springs resort. The dates were fixed, so if we’d had anything on our calendar we couldn’t have come. Chip, Charli and I came out Friday, and they went home early for work and soccer. It’s no accident that they had to be home yesterday, and I didn’t. Even the fact that God has blessed me with a job that I can do here remotely this week is no accident. He knew I needed flexibility in this season to do what was healing for my soul.
So here I am, sitting on a couch overlooking a beautiful green golf course lined with palm and pine trees – a mix of Hawaii and East Texas. My essential oil diffuser is spitting out a cloud of lavender fragrance. My journal, books, and purple gel pen are spread out in front of me on the table, my feet propped up on the adjacent table. My computer is queued up for the next song I’m going to listen to – Another in the Fire.
For a while, I couldn’t handle worship music. Friends would send me songs to listen to, and I was already feeling so much so deeply, I just wasn’t ready. Yesterday I started scrolling back through texts and messages listening to the songs. Each one spoke to my soul and I cried and cried.
The song that spoke loudest to me was called Surrounded:
Sometimes I feel like I’m surrounded
But I’m surrounded by you
The biggest battles I face are against invisible enemies – discouragement, fear, anxiety, pride, self-righteousness, anger, unforgiveness, jealousy, resentment, doubt. It was no accident that my friend Gail sent me that song. The most powerful way to fight these invisible enemies is through prayer and worship -- to consistently remind myself that God is greater, that I am safe in Him, that He is my source, that He surrounds me.
God, you are so good to me. It is no accident that I am in this quiet space where you are fortifying my soul this week. Thank you for working out the details of my spiritual retreat before I even had the chance to kick into my usual overthinking mode! You are just so good. Amen.
Tonight’s Chandler-ness:
11-14-99 – When people get married, they don’t do a French kiss. They just do an American kiss and make it last for a long time.
