I hate Chinese food. Beyond being ripped off of $60 as a poor volunteer in the Dominican Republic last food over Chinese food, I really don't like the taste of it. Peanuts with chicken? Is this a mad mix of McDonald's and Camden Yards? But in all seriousness, it isn't my favorite food. I enjoy it occasionally, but if I had a choice there are other foods that I would choose (German, Mexican, Thai, Italian, Greek). But this isn't a post about my palette. It is a post about the randomness of God and Chinese food.
I received a message from God in a fortune cookie.
Random? Yes. Chances are slim I would be found in a Chinese restaurant. Even more slim it would be in downtown DC. And even more slim that the very cookie I choose out of four, from an order of probably hundreds that came from a factory that probably produces millions, has a "fortune" that actually applies to me. Sure it was as generic as my daily horoscope that I don't follow. But it hit me like a brick wall. Nah, make it titanium.
I have only shared it with a select few, but the message itself isn't important. What is important is this. I have been begging and asking and whining for a sign from God. Some sort of nod of the direction I should be taking. I have prayed and been diligent about waiting for a sign. Nothing for two months. Then, of all places, as I swallow the last lump of soggy fortune cookie down, I turn over the white slip of paper and get that message I was hoping would come through a, ummm, much more pronounced way.
It was a simple message, one really anyone would normally crumple and throw away. It wasn't a prophecy from a crazed, toothless man that hasn't showered in months. I didn't get it in tongues , nor did a lightning bolt come and strike me. Some dumb piece of paper that appears so insignificant, so meek. A blink and it is gone. View life as a large river, one massive movement forward. But inside this river are millions of strands or streams. Many are large and ever noticeable. Others are small and seemingly insignificant. God works through the small strands. Ironically enough while it seems as though those large currents carry all the weight and force, the reality is it is those small tiny strands, when moved in the right ways, that influence the entire course of the river. We need to stop looking towards those large strands and focus on the smaller bits and pieces. That is where true work is occurring. The excitement is there, not in the big powerful currents. Trust me, a life altering message came to me amongst the crumbs of a eaten fortune cookie in a Chinese restaurant that has replaced six before it and will probably be replaced by another in a few months. Minuscule, yet life changing.
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