When God Winks

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2:6-7, ESV). Ruth Graham tells a story of how late one night Slim Cornett was being shown around a county airport in rural Mississippi by a member of his church who managed the facility. "This switch lights up the runway," the man said as he flipped it. "Then, let's say there is a plane in distress up there. I would throw this switch and turn on the search lights." As the night skies lit up, a small plane materialized out of the darkness and landed. Slim and his friend watched in amazement as Franklin Graham, son of the famous evangelist, stepped off the plane. The pilot had been flying Franklin back to school in Texas when the electrical system shut down, leaving them stranded in the Mississippi night without lights or radio or any means of guidance. From out of nowhere, the search beam had come on and guided them to the landing strip. As she continues the story, earlier that evening before they left home, Billy Graham had prayed for the Father to protect and guide his son and the pilot. Some might call that “lucky,” others would simply declare it a coincidence. Perhaps, however, as someone has said, “…a coincidence is God wishing to remain anonymous. If so, it isn't working, because, far from concealing Him, this kind of concurrence is a dead giveaway that God is on the premises.” Squire Bushnell, a veteran television executive, has written a book called "When God Winks," in which he claims these intersections of people and events are nudges from the Creator reminding us we are not alone in life's adventures. It's a fun book on an intriguing theme although Christians may disagree with some of Bushnell's conclusions. Two lovers discover their grandfathers were best friends half a century earlier. Does this guarantee the match is made in Heaven? Of course it doesn't. Still, I love the concept of God signaling to us His nearness by these tiny miracles. The story of Jesus' birth is lined with Heavenly coincidences. A Roman census moves Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem just in time to fulfill a 500-year-old prophecy that the Messiah would be born there. Shepherds found the stall where the Lord was born, and breathlessly announced that they had seen a skyful of angels proclaiming His birth. Foreigners chasing a star showed up bearing gifts, gold among them, just in time to finance the family's hasty flight to Egypt. God was moving Heaven and earth to get you and me into the Kingdom. The Gospel of Jesus Christ came together at a moment in time when the Greek language and Roman highways and disillusionment over the old religions flowed together to create an ideal situation for spreading this message. Coincidence? No, just a sovereign God on the job. That’s the kind of God we may absolutely trust. Do you?