God Speaks Through Coincidences
Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He reveals His secret unto His servants the prophets. —Amos 3:7 AKJV
The above verse declares that God is committed to letting His people know ahead of time His plans and purposes. As well as being received through the normal channels of revelation, such as the written word and dreams and visions, these are also often communicated to those with “ears to hear” on the world stage through what Jesus called “the signs of the times” (Matt. 16:3).
God’s people must open their ears and eyes to His voice in these everyday prophetic incidents and natural events so that we may know His purposes and can take action in accordance with what He is doing. God is still committed to His people being “the head, and not the tail” (Deut. 28:13) and He is ever-prepared to lead those who meditatively consider His word (however it comes) into prosperity and success (see Josh. 1:8).
As modern-day prophets, we are called to hear God’s voice and to gain understanding of His revelations. There are so many experiences and circumstances that we are involved in each day that we naturally write off as being normal, but God’s voice may be embedded within those experiences. In the life of the believer, there needs to be a fine balance for hearing the rhema voice of God that imparts faith and the need for applying the logos—the written Word of God—to one’s daily life. God often speaks through signs and symbols, through numbers and names, and through natural means that reveal larger spiritual principles and applications, thus drawing us into greater intimacy with Him.
It is imperative not to seek out omens and “force” the voice of God. Thus, it is crucial to learn how to recognize when these supernatural phenomena keep coming up in our daily lives and how to attune our hearts and minds to hear what God may be saying. For example, we don’t try to search for specific numbers and see what God may be saying to us; rather, as we go about our day-to-day business, God will often speak through certain situations, circumstances, and even numbers. Once we have recognized these recurring incidents as coming from God, then we are to study and interpret what God may be saying to us through those occurrences.
Our walk with God goes deeper than just listening to His voice. We are called to be intimate with God. Understanding the multifaceted ways God speaks is not just about hearing His voice as much as it is about developing a personal relationship and greater intimacy with Him. People can have a prophetic gift and understand mysteries, but without intimacy those revelations will lack true fruit and will not be sustained for any length of time. Furthermore, spiritual insight doesn’t come to impart more knowledge to us; it comes to be applied to our lives.Often believers will question whether God still speaks to us in this day and age. When this question arises, they are often referring to the audible voice of God. God can speak to us audibly if He so chooses; however, when it comes to hearing God’s voice outside the traditionally accepted means, my experience has been that it is typically through something that gains your attention because it is unusual or out of character. We are not cookie-cutter Christians; we are unique beings, and therefore God will speak to us in ways that are unique to our spiritual makeup. God does not speak the same way to each of us. Sometimes His words come as a natural incident or event that is a revelation to you. This is not an invitation for us to go looking for omens, but if something is a little freaky, jumps out at you, or is regularly repeated, then take the time to get God’s perspective on it by looking at it through the lens of Scripture.
A number of years ago, I was battling mentally with some health issues. I was experiencing chest pains, I could hear the pulse of my heart in my head when I lay down at night, and the enemy was in my ear about my physical health and the prospect of death. There were times when I would get up at night and study and meditate in the Scriptures for hours because I couldn’t sleep. So that you can appreciate the gravity of the situation, this incident led me to adjust and finalize my last will and testament at that time. However, it was no coincidence that this attack came just days before a scheduled period of extended ministry both interstate and overseas. So together with a good friend, I headed into the Australian Outback with some basic camping equipment for a few days, planning to fast and seek God for the situation to be resolved. On the second day, I had gone out into the bush and was sitting in a camp chair reading my Bible when I came across the following verse: “He that finds his life will lose it: and he that loses his life for My sake will find it (Matthew 10:39).
”The second part of the verse jumped out of the page at me and caused me to make a resolution. I said, “I don’t care if I die, and if I die, I’m going to do it preaching the Gospel!” Above me the sky was a mixture of moving clouds and open sky, when almost on cue, a massive cloud in the shape of a dragon came into center screen. When I saw it, I pointed at it and rebuked it. It held its shape, almost in slow motion, as if to test me, while the other formations around it were morphing into other configurations. There was no one around me, so I repeated over and over what I had resolved, but now making it a loud verbal declaration. As I did so, the dragon broke up and its components dissipated, and then immediately a cloud in the shape of a man on a cross slid into its place. As a reasonably sane and intelligent person, I have not told this story openly in many churches, but believe it or not, that’s what happened. As the Master Artist, God sculpted and spoke through the clouds in my world that day to confirm His word and strengthen my spirit. As a side note, I have found that whenever you are about to step into the Kingdom—bringing Heaven to earth by engaging in a God-given assignment with its associated provision and authority—the enemy mounts pressure against you. If what you carry is in your heart and not merely in your head, and you hold on to it, it is the enemy that yields.
Some believers can bemoan that God does not communicate with them, but as we have read, God is always talking to us. The beauty of the ways God communicates with us is that they are tailored to our unique design and the level of intimacy we have with Him. God’s Words are purposeful; they are used for correction, for guidance, to bring hope, and to draw us ever closer into His loving arms.By opening our hearts and coming to God with an understanding that He only wants what is best for us, it becomes easier to still our minds and hear the voice of His Spirit. God can speak to us through His written word, and as we meditate upon the Scriptures He will bring forth His rhema word that will speak to our heart. God can bring revelation through dreams, visions, and expressions, and sometimes God will use the natural world to express His rhema word; this can be through natural events, signs, symbols, and recurring numbers.God does indeed speak to us. This is confirmed in Hebrews 1:1-2: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” (NKJV). And as mentioned in John 10:27, you too can hear the voice of God: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”