Devotion: A God of Serendipity

“What people call serendipity sometimes is just having your eyes open.” ~Jose Manuel Barroso

She tapped me on the shoulder in the post office line. I’d been too busy scrolling through email and social media on my phone to notice her, or that she was reading the back of my shirt. In all honesty, I didn’t even remember there were words on the back of my shirt until she started talking.

“That came at the perfect time. I needed to hear that today.”

As I looked at her quizzically, she pointed to my shirt.

“I needed to hear those exact words today,” she said again, more emphatically.

I had to think for a moment to remember the words to which she was referring.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).

For the past decade, I’ve spent Tuesday afternoons at a local day shelter for homeless and poor individuals called The Lamb Center. When we moved into our a building last year, we handed out aqua t-shirts with our theme verse, Jeremiah 29:11, prominently displayed on the back. When the first anniversary rolled around this year, I voted for purple for this year’s updated version, happy to have a new alternative for my Tuesday uniform. Because I wear one or the other weekly, I am repeatedly delighted by the conversations my Lamb Center shirts incite in the grocery store, Target, or post office.

Almost every single person says some version of, “I needed to hear those words today.”

I’ve always loved the word serendipity. Serendipity is defined as “the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.” Serendipity is when we stumble on something delightful when we are not looking for it, a passing moment of unexpected meaning or importance. For my friends who serendipitously come upon the words on my shirt while running a mundane errand, it apparently feels like a gift of grace.

As a person of faith, I don’t believe these encounters are coincidence or happy accidents. I think God can and does speak through something as simple as the words on the back of a t-shirt, but only if the person reading the words chooses to perceive the words as a gift. The lady in the post office line told me it was her birthday. When I told her I wore the shirt just so she would see it, she decided the verse was a present straight from God. With their eyes and hearts open, the people who have approached me to talk about my shirt want to find encouragement in unexpected places. So they find it. I’m sure plenty of people see the simple words and go on about their day.
Or perhaps, like me, they are looking at their phones instead of noticing the miracles all around them.

God of serendipity and grace, open our eyes to the miracles all around us. Gently remind us to put down our phones and lift our gaze to notice the work you are doing in the world. You speak to us in a million different ways, if only we would listen. Help us to hear you whispering to us in unexpected ways throughout our day, encouraging us and reminding us of your presence. Help us to be that voice of encouragement to others who we encounter on our journey. Thank you for loving us and being with us. Amen.

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Scripture for Reflection

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'” (Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV)

“I don’t think the way you think.
The way you work isn’t the way I work.
For as the sky soars high above earth,
so the way I work surpasses the way you work,
and the way I think is beyond the way you think.
Just as rain and snow descend from the skies
and don’t go back until they’ve watered the earth,
Doing their work of making things grow and blossom,
producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry,
So will the words that come out of my mouth
not come back empty-handed.
They’ll do the work I sent them to do,
they’ll complete the assignment I gave them.” (Isaiah 55:8-11 MSG)

Reach for More

This week’s challenge is to look up and notice the world around you as you go about your daily errands. Look into the eyes of the people around you and smile instead of looking at your phone. Watch for God at work in the people, places, and things you encounter. Be brave enough to accept any invitations to be part of it. Notice the gifts of grace and answers to prayer God is sending your way.

Friends, please come back and leave a comment telling us about your experiments with serendipity this week. Share a time when you experienced serendipity, how God spoke to you this week, or share your progress on social media using the hashtag #tgtreachformore. We would love to hear from you.

Kelly Johnson is a counselor, writer, speaker, and advocate. She leads a weekly Bible study and serves as chair of the board of directors at a local shelter for the homeless. Married to her high school sweetheart, she is the mom of two college-age daughters. Kelly writes about life, faith, and her newly empty nest at kellyiveyjohnson.com.

Photograph © Brooke Cagle, used with permission