If you have spent enough time with me, you, more than likely, have heard me say that something is “a God thing.” I choose to spend every day looking for God, even in the smallest moments.

I’m not a person who believes in coincidence. I’m just not. I feel strongly in my heart that everything happens for a reason. I also believe that whatever that reason is, it’s part of God’s plan.

Locked your keys in your car or lost your keys in general? It’s a God thing. Ran into someone at the grocery store and had a 10 minute conversation with them? It’s a God thing. Lost your phone on a ride at Disney World (yes, this really happened to me)? It’s a God thing.

Disagree? Are you thinking, “How in the world can those be God things?” If you are like my husband, and some other friends of mine, you may say, “Alyssa, those are just coincidences or unlucky things that happened.” Humor me….

You locked your keys in your car, or lost your keys….this may have led to you being late to where you were going. What if you being late prevented you from being in an accident? What if the locksmith you had to pay was short on money and you just helped him pay a bill? What if by having to look for your keys, you also found another item you had been looking for?

Here’s what my “God thing” was from when this happened to me: I learned I needed to SLOW DOWN! I mean let’s be real, how many times do we lock our keys in the car, or loose our keys because we are rushing??…… EXACTLY! Sometimes things like this happen to remind us to take things at a slower pace.

You ran into someone at the grocery store and had a 10 minute conversation….I know going into the grocery store can be tedious. We live in an impatient world where we want things immediately. If we have to go into the grocery store, most of us, want to be in and out as quickly as possible. You know I’m right! However, there are some people who enjoy going to the grocery store because it gives them human interaction. They are just able to get out of the house.

What if you end up having a 10 minute conversation with someone and they say something that makes your day, or is just the thing you needed to hear? That’s an easy “God thing” for us to notice. But….what if you have a 10 minute conversation with someone and you felt like it was just small talk, or maybe even a waste of your time, but it was exactly what the other person needed in that moment. God used you in that moment for them. It’s selfish of us to think that those moments are just about us!

You lost your phone….man oh man if I could only tell you how many times this happens to me! Yes, I really did lose my phone on the Buzz Lightyear ride at Magic Kingdom about a month ago. To tell you how often this happens, my husband’s comment was, “Well, it’s not a vacation until you lose your phone at least once.” No worries, I got it back the next day.

Anywho, we use our phones for everything, and have become addicted to them. We are constantly looking at the time, our messages, our emails, our socials, etc. They literally consume us and the majority of our time! While at Disney World we were using our phones quite a bit, especially as a way to pass the time while waiting in line for rides. Shortly after I lost my phone, we went to wait in line to ride one of the most popular rides at the park: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

I can’t tell you how many times I reached for my phone, out of habit, while waiting in line. After about the third time, I realized how selfish I had been. My kids are 6 and 8. They don’t have phones and were having to wait in line without much to entertain them. Sure, we had played the Heads Up game a few times, and we had done other things to help them pass the time, but I could have done much more. Even typing this “confession” makes me feel absolutely terrible. Here they had been having to wait 30 minutes plus in lines while we had been passing part of the time on our phones.

In that moment, God made me realize (yet again) that my phone isn’t the most important thing. Sure, it’s an important tool that I use every day, but at the end of the day, it has a price and can be replaced. Relationships and memories are priceless. Those moments are moments you can’t get back, or replace.

If you lose your phone, don’t panic. Use it as a way to remind yourself what’s really important in life and make it a priority to do better. Even if you don’t lose your phone, I challenge you to do this!

With all that being said, I totally understand if you are a person who believes in coincidences and you see the past three examples as unfortunate circumstances/coincidences. However, what I pray you do going forward is look for God in every moment of every day. What is He trying to show you, teach you, tell you? We pray for God’s guidance and wisdom, yet we ignore when He answers us. I can’t help but believe that my “God things” are when He is speaking to me, or even answering one of my prayers.

Proverbs 3:6 says, “In all ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” God wants to be glorified. As Christians, we are called to glorify His name and give Him the praise that He deserves. He is with us EVERY moment of EVERY day. He does His job, but how often do we do ours?

Dear Lord, I pray that this blog is a “God thing” for whoever is reading it. I pray that they feel your Holy Spirit around them and that they begin to notice all of the things you do for them everyday. Even in the unfortunate situations and valleys I pray that they see your goodness. In your precious son’s name, Amen.

Challenge 1: Comment below a God thing that you have experienced, big or small!

Challenge 2: Look for what God is doing in your life. Each night, write down where you saw God in your day. Trust me when I say that you will start to see God more easily after a while.