A Trail of Breadcrumbs
Have you ever noticed that life is littered with “coincidences,” Little surprises, matching sets of circumstances, puzzle pieces that fit together even when you weren't even aware there was a “puzzle”?
I travel through life open mouthed and slack-jawed, just when I’m about to throw in the towel my numbers come up, superman flies by and the jack-in-the-box jumps out with life’s answers written on a 3 by 5 card. We are walking through a carnival “fun house” here folks and you can never really know just what’s going to happen.
Does God leave breadcrumbs? Yes, you read that right. Does God leave breadcrumbs? Does he leave little “hints and tells” your whole life long showing you which way to go and confirming you are on the right path? Is He pointing to himself saying “hey” it’s me, God?
What about all the times you found just what you needed was on sale? Do you remember the week you were short on cash and you found that 10-dollar bill in your coat pocket, but you don’t remember putting it there. Or when you checked on your toddler just in time to keep him from getting in the street. Was it just luck you found that course you wanted to take online at a discount? Wasn’t it just too weird when you traveled all the way to New York and run into your next-door neighbor from back home in Central Park. Do these things just happen? Is it luck? I took a bus trip once and looked out the window miles from home and saw a friend’s husband hitch-hiking down the busy interstate. These things happen all the time.
If you hadn’t missed the train that time you never would have met Mable! How lucky is that? Mable is the love of your life and helped get you that good job at Westinghouse. Or whatever! Was it luck? What would your life be now if you had caught the train? Were you predestined from the beginning of time to miss that train and meet Mable. To what point are we just watching the script play out and is someone sitting in the stands dropping us signals that things are not always what they seem. Is a “red pill-blue pill” kind of thing? I am just throwing around ideas now!
Have you ever noticed that life is littered with “coincidences,” Little surprises, matching sets of circumstances, puzzle pieces that fit together even when you weren't even aware there was a “puzzle”?
I travel through life open mouthed and slack-jawed, just when I’m about to throw in the towel my numbers come up, superman flies by and the jack-in-the-box jumps out with life’s answers written on a 3 by 5 card. We are walking through a carnival “fun house” here folks and you can never really know just what’s going to happen.
Does God leave breadcrumbs? Yes, you read that right. Does God leave breadcrumbs? Does he leave little “hints and tells” your whole life long showing you which way to go and confirming you are on the right path? Is He pointing to himself saying “hey” it’s me, God?
What about all the times you found just what you needed was on sale? Do you remember the week you were short on cash and you found that 10-dollar bill in your coat pocket, but you don’t remember putting it there. Or when you checked on your toddler just in time to keep him from getting in the street. Was it just luck you found that course you wanted to take online at a discount? Wasn’t it just too weird when you traveled all the way to New York and run into your next-door neighbor from back home in Central Park. Do these things just happen? Is it luck? I took a bus trip once and looked out the window miles from home and saw a friend’s husband hitch-hiking down the busy interstate. These things happen all the time.
If you hadn’t missed the train that time you never would have met Mable! How lucky is that? Mable is the love of your life and helped get you that good job at Westinghouse. Or whatever! Was it luck? What would your life be now if you had caught the train? Were you predestined from the beginning of time to miss that train and meet Mable. To what point are we just watching the script play out and is someone sitting in the stands dropping us signals that things are not always what they seem. Is a “red pill-blue pill” kind of thing? I am just throwing around ideas now!
Or maybe Tuesdays were always lucky for you and you love Tuesdays and you end up dying on a Tuesday? Did that just happen? My Father loved Thanksgiving and he died on Thanksgiving Day; it was an odd comfort to his family. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) was born shortly after Halley’s comet was visible in 1835 and rightly predicted he would die when it came back, he had a heart attack and died the day after it appeared in 1910. Sometimes you just “Know” things, why is that? If you listen to your “gut” you will be surprised but mostly we never do.
When the Israelites were crossing the desert, God provided food along the way in the form of “Manna” – (What is it?) basically breadcrumbs for them to eat and to help them on their journey. Psalm 78:24-25 “He rained down manna upon them to eat and gave them food from heaven. Man did eat the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance”. But was he also using this Manna/Bread as a sort of object lesson? John 6:50-51 "This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh." Christ was the Bread. We remember this when we take communion. But there are many "layers" to scripture I think these little gifts from heaven or "Manna" too. They are evidence if we are willing to look that we are dealing with something beyond ourselves.
When the Israelites were crossing the desert, God provided food along the way in the form of “Manna” – (What is it?) basically breadcrumbs for them to eat and to help them on their journey. Psalm 78:24-25 “He rained down manna upon them to eat and gave them food from heaven. Man did eat the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance”. But was he also using this Manna/Bread as a sort of object lesson? John 6:50-51 "This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh." Christ was the Bread. We remember this when we take communion. But there are many "layers" to scripture I think these little gifts from heaven or "Manna" too. They are evidence if we are willing to look that we are dealing with something beyond ourselves.
There is a new Movie out about the old Children’s fairytale “Hansel and Gretel” The story is about two poor unfortunate kids who failed to find their way out of the forest because the birds ate the trail of breadcrumbs they left to mark their way home. Is it strange that this Movie is coming out just now, when I am thinking of puzzle pieces and breadcrumbs? It’s a perfect object lesson at a perfect time when the question “does God leave breadcrumbs” is heavy on my mind. (That’s what I’m talking about). I am also reminded of the Movie “The Never-ending story” that my kids enjoyed when they were young. It’s about a boy reading a story in a book and as he reads the story, he becomes part of the narrative and soon he is reading a story about himself. The adventure becomes his.
There is another story in the Bible that mentions something about birds eating seed that a man planted in a field. Birds can be like that; in the Bible they were a picture of how the Devil works. In our fairytale about Hansel and Gretel the birds ate the breadcrumbs that marked the way back, without the breadcrumbs the children lost their way. We must be aware and not let Satan distract us from what God wants to do in our lives.
There is another story in the Bible that mentions something about birds eating seed that a man planted in a field. Birds can be like that; in the Bible they were a picture of how the Devil works. In our fairytale about Hansel and Gretel the birds ate the breadcrumbs that marked the way back, without the breadcrumbs the children lost their way. We must be aware and not let Satan distract us from what God wants to do in our lives.
The word of God is the “Bread of life” and we must mark everything by the word. It shows us the way home. But God often “winks” at us, through little coincidences, circumstances and events. He will toss out a few breadcrumbs to help us find our way. These are not the same as the word of God, but they can be used to confirm what we already feel and that we are on the right path. These things are not to be relied on but they are nice just the same. I think they are just God’s way of keeping in “touch.” Have you ever came upon the exact scripture you needed to get you through a problem? That’s another sort of breadcrumb and we can look up and say “Thanks, I know that was you.”
" Because of the Lord ’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness". Lamentations 3:22, 23
" Because of the Lord ’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness". Lamentations 3:22, 23