Coincidence or Confirmation ??

As many of you know, I have been working with my son’s high school chapel program for the past few weeks. The students have chosen the topic of my book-to-be as their theme for the current chapel series. I was the speaker for the introduction chapel, and each week since, a special speaker has provided a special unique message about our identity in Christ. So far, they have examined what it means to be a soldier, clay, an ambassador, a servant.

This week the speaker was a gifted basketball player [he ran the entire NYC marathon while dribbling a basketball!] named Gian Paul Gonzales, who spoke on being an athlete for Christ. He shared a powerful message about the discipline, perseverance, focus and training required of athletes, and compared it to our walk with the Lord. He also introduced his ministry “Truth or Die” ( www.truthordie.org. ) I encourage you all to check it out and support it as the Lord leads. I believe that this ministry will have a powerful effect on the youth of our country.

After chapel was over, I had a wonderful conversation with Gian Paul – the kind where you intend to encourage the other person and he ends up encouraging you! And as we were about to leave, he asked to pray with me. It was one of those prayer times that you could physically sense the presence of God inhabiting the spoken words. And a crazy “coincidence” occurred:

During his prayer, Gian Paul quoted two Scripture verses – one was the portion of Scripture that just so happens to be the closing chapter of my book – the final “i am” – “Here I am . . . send me!” spoken by the prophet Isaiah. The other was Psalm 91:1 “Those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” This verse just so happens to be on my business cards and psalm911 is my personal email address! He had no way of knowing how significant those particular verses are to me. There are a million other appropriate verses, so you can imagine my surprise to hear him pray those particular verses.

I believe that God used this man to confirm once again to me that He has plans for this message, and I better get moving! I have the heart of the message to share, and I have lots of researched material (although I still could use more), but I am not confident in my writing skills and often sit at my computer thinking “what should I do now?” The more I learn about how to write and about the publishing industry, the more I realize how much more I need to learn! So would you pray for me? And for this project? My prayer is that people would be encouraged and equipped to walk strong for God, and in so doing would fulfill the calling that God has placed on their lives. I can’t thank you enough for your prayers and support!!
Susan