God nod.
You know, it's one of those times when the Lord ever so gently reminds you that He's with you, He sees you and He's working on your behalf. You are not forgotten. What matters to you matters to Him because you matter to Him. It's one of those moments that you might miss if you aren't intentional in looking for the Lord at work in the everyday situations of life. It's subtle. A wink. A nod. If you aren't paying attention, you won't even notice it.
I think one of the most quoted passages of Scripture at funerals is Psalm 23. I've begun to see that passage in a different light over the past couple of years. It's a Psalm about kingdom living and what abundant life in Christ here on earth looks like. The last verse of that Psalm says, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." The Hebrew word translated "follow" right there is radaph. It literally means, "to pursue, to run after." Think about that. God pursues His people with His goodness and mercy. God chases His people with His goodness and mercy! That's quite a word picture right there.
I'm also reminded of the worship song, "Goodness of God." Some of the lyrics are, "Your goodness is running after, is running after me . . . All my life You have been faithful. All my life You have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able I will sing of the goodness of God." So that's what I want to do. I want to testify of God's goodness in my life. I want to remember. I want my kids to understand that the Lord is always at work in their lives, whether they see it or feel it or not. I'm going to begin recording these God nods here.
Our pastor began a new sermon series in January called, "Seven Verses." He chose a word and then preached through seven verses of the Bible on that word. I take sermon notes in a journal every Sunday. I started the current journal in the spring of 2021. Each page of the journal has a Bible verse at the top. Every verse is different. One of the words our pastor preached through in January was "purpose." When I opened my journal to the next blank page that morning so I could take notes, the verse at the top of that page was Romans 8:28. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His PURPOSE." That is not a coincidence. That is a God nod. It was also a really good sermon, probably my favorite one in this series.
My bestie's father was welcomed into heaven in January. It was expected yet not expected. It seemed shortly after Christmas that his time on earth was coming to an end. So we waited. I waited on that phone call everyday knowing that it might be that day. I felt so helpless, as I was here, and she was 500 miles away in Georgia. I wanted to be there for her, but it's hard to know how to do that across the miles so I did the best I could. And then "the day" came. A text was waiting for me when I woke up that morning. Even though I knew it was coming, and I was anticipating it, I didn't know what to say. But I wanted to say something. So I prayed all morning as I was getting ready for work, and the girls were getting ready for school. I asked the Lord to give me a specific verse for her. I sat down with my Bible after the girls left. I still didn't have the verse yet, and it was almost time for me to leave. I really wanted a verse! Before I had time to even open my Bible, the Lord spoke.
1 Peter 1:3-5. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
I finished up my time in the Word and then quickly texted the verse to my bestie before walking out the door. As I was backing out of my garage, my playlist automatically picked up from where it left off the day before. "Living Hope" began playing. That is not a coincidence. That is a God nod. I stopped in the middle of my driveway so I could text her again.
God nods always remind me of one of my favorite passages of Scripture. Hagar was an Egyptian maidservant to Sarai. She was mistreated, hurt, afraid. So she fled. The Lord found her (Genesis 16:7). Actually, the Bible says, "the Angel of the LORD found her." Not just "an" angel but "THE" angel. Many Bible scholars believe this was actually the preincarnate Jesus Christ who came to her. Imagine it! Jesus came to this Egyptian slave girl. He spoke to her, called her by name. Hagar. After this encounter, "Hagar called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, "Have I also here seen Him who sees me?"" (Genesis 16:13). That's one of my very favorite names for God.
The God Who Sees.
El Roi.
God nods.