Intentional or by Chance

At times, have you ever wondered if God has a set plan for your life, or everything thus far has all accidentally happened? When I read verses* like Romans 8:28 (“That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good”) and Jeremiah 29:11 (“I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out-plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hoped for), I realize the patchwork quilt of my (at times disorganized) life has all been planned out by a Heavenly Father much wiser than me.

Has God wasted anything in the shaping of the unique man I am today? There are milestones in everyone’s existence. What were a few of the divinely-inspired (pivotal) events in my life? What could have been God’s purpose in allowing them to occur?

My young father (also Robert Kinker) sees a sandwich-board sign advertising a new Baptist church starting in the gymnasium of a local elementary school in Columbus, OH. (I wasn’t two yet. My mother (Janice) was pregnant with my younger sister, Kim. My brother, Jim, would come two years later.)

That simple decision by my father provided me with the foundation of faith my entire life rests on. Those beliefs are consistently imparted to you on my Encourage Me blog. (I hope I am succeeding in blessing you.)

I’m fourteen when my father (a barber) is killed in a car accident. I’m in my late twenties when my brother dies of a seizure. Both of these tragic events have caused me to let both my mother and sister consistently know just how much I love them, and how important they are to me. (No one knows when the end of a life could happen.)

A young woman named, “Bobbi McFarlen,” gets a job at a wood treating company in Washington. They have a contract with the federal government. Bobbi connects with me specifically (one of three Customer Service Representatives at that time in my office).

Circumstances occur where Bobbi is laid off from her job. Our friendship eventually turns into romance.  We marry, and then have a daughter (in the midst of multiple miscarriages).

If I would have never taken a job with the federal government, maybe I would still be single or have a completely different family. (That would have been a tragedy.) My wife and I have real empathy for couples having conception issues (of any kind).

In May of 2009, I get Lymphoma (from what the doctor originally diagnosed as Vertigo). With the last chemotherapy treatment in 2010, remission becomes a familiar friend in my life.

Many good things came from this challenging experience. I have time to write a book; our dream of one parent then seeing my thirteen year-old daughter to and from school becomes a reality (who me?); our family adopts two (of our three) delightful, calming Chihuahuas (as my daytime companions); I inspired others in transition mode by the way I pushed forward with my cancer (are you surprised); and when I do return to work again retail becomes my chosen career. (Diversity job-wise is good.)

I have no idea what has happened in your life. Chances are not all of it was pleasant. When it seems like God is napping (and chaos is prevalent), the real truth is that He is busily working on your behalf.

Purifying gold is a rather hot and tedious process, but it always results in a valuable commodity. If you make the spiritual connection, realize your loving Heavenly Father is (or has) produced something precious in your life that glorifies Him (I Peter 1:7).  Resist no more, and adapt to His ordained plan.

*From The Message