Rushnell - When God winks at you: how God speaks directly to you through the power of coincidence

Copyright 2006 by SQuire Rushnell

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Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the NEW KING JAMES VERSION. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NCV are taken from the NEW CENTURY VERSION. Copyright 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations noted KJV are from the Holy Bible, KING JAMES VERSION.

Scripture quotations noted NLT are from the Holy Bible, NEW LIVING TRANSLATION, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked CEV are from THE CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH VERSION of the Bible, Copyright 1991, 1995 by the American Bible Society. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked The Message are taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rushnell, SQuire D., 1938
When God winks at you: how God speaks directly to you through the power of coincidence / SQuire Rushnell.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p.233).
ISBN 10: 0-7852-1892-0 (hardcover)
ISBN 13: 978-0-7852-1892-0
1. CoincidenceReligious aspectsChristianity. 2. Christian life.
I. Title.
BV4599.5.C65R87 2006
231.7dc22
2006009943

Printed in the United States of America

06 07 08 09 QWM 6 5 4 3 2

CONTENTS

Youve had another one of those days. Everything seems uncertain.

You think: Wouldnt it be great to wake up one morning andhave everything certain? Certain in love? Certain about your job? Certain about your future?

Who could you talk to about this? Bigger question, whod listen?

Tentatively your eyes drift skyward.

Hello? Are You there, God?

Then your mind quickly assesses the immensity of your request. You want God to listen to you, right now. How ridiculous. There are six billion people on this planet. What if theyre all calling God at the same time?

You slump. Deeper into the dumps.

Thensomething happens.

A silly little thing.

Someone you just thought about for the first time in years, telephones out of the bluea silly little coincidence, so silly you shrug it off. Or a prayer you didnt really expect to be answeredwas! Immediately, your left brain repeats something you once heard: Theres a mathematical explanation foreverything.

But... you say, mayyyyybe... its not just coincidence or chance!

Maybe God is communicating with you.

Yes, directly to you!

You shake your head.

Naw. Couldnt be.

But... what if God is communicating with youin a nonverbal waymaking a little miracle happen, right in front of you? After all, God doesnt speak to people in a human voice. Hes God... Hed do something no one else could do, just to show you its Him!

If so, that would mean that He is listening! Right?

He has heard you!

What if through this odd little coincidence, or answered prayer, Hes sending youyou... out of all those billions of peoplea direct, personal message of reassurance? To stop worrying? To keep the faith? That everything will be all right?

This, my dear reader, is the essence of this book.

THIS BOOK IS ABOUT YOU

Every time you receive what some call a coincidence or an answered prayer, its a direct and personal message of reassurance from God to youwhat I call a godwink.

Its similar to when you were a kid sitting at the dining room table. You looked up and saw someone you loved looking back. Mom or Dad or Granddad. They gave you a little wink.

You had a nice feeling from that small silent communication.

What did it mean? ProbablyHey kid... Im thinking about you right this moment. Im proud of you. Everything is going to be all right.

Thats what a godwink is.

Every so-called coincidence or answered prayer is Gods way of giving you His small, silent communication. A little wink saying, Hey kid! Im thinking of you... right now!

The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be... his treasured possession.

DEUTERONOMY 7:6 NIV

Its a clear message of reassurancethat no matter how uncertain your life seems at the moment, He will help move you toward certainty.

And its a sign that youre never alone. In fact, youre always on His GPSa global positioning system I like to call Gods Positioning System.

In this book I aim to show that every godwink that happens in your life is a very personal experience. Ive collected one compelling story after another to convince you that you will never again have to wonder where you rank among those six billion others in this world. Like those in the stories that follow, the instant you receive a godwink, youll know it. You are right there at the top.

In Anaheim, California, Mavis Jackson drove past the Crystal Cathedral. For twenty years, she said the same thing: Someday Im going to go there.

One Sunday morning, she did. Putting on her best outfit, she simply decided, Today is the day.

Getting there early, Mavis took a seat in the middle and watched the huge three-thousand-seat megachurch fill with people. She was awed as the majestic voices of the choir seemed to encircle her. She marveled at the manner in which a huge section of the glass ceiling slid open at the start of the service as if to invite even the birds to worship.

At the end of the service, Mavis stood up and waited for the aisle to clear. Trying not to sound too excited, she said to the young lady whod been next to her, I am so glad I came today. Wasnt it wonderful?

The young woman nodded.

Are you from here? asked Mavis.

No, Im from the Midwest, said the young woman, adding, Im actually here on a mission. To find my birth mother.

There was a pause.

I know how you must feel, said Mavis. A long time ago, I had to give up a little girl for adoption. I didnt want to... but...

Another pause.

The young woman looked deeply into Maviss eyes.

Do you... remember her birthday?

Yes, said Mavis cautiously. October 30th.

Thats my birthday, gasped the young woman.

Thats right! A remarkable coincidencea godwinkhad reunited a long lost mother and daughter. What are the odds of that?

They sat down.

The young woman introduced herself as Cheryl Wallace.

Cheryl explained that for years she had been haunted by the lingering uncertainty of not knowing who her birth mother was and, more important, why her mother had given her up.