Godwink Stories

A Devotional

SQuire Rushnell

• Publisher: Howard Books
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9781451678635
• eBook ISBN: 9781451678598
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Building on the themes in his popular book When God Winks, SQuire Rushnell shares real-life stories that are certain to uplift and encourage you. The stories in this book reaffirm that godwinks happen to everyone. We just need to learn how to see them, allow them to unfold, and accept them as direct, person-to-person communications from God to each of us. As you'll see, those so-called coincidences that you'd been dismissing so easily really do mean something. And you need to pay attention. They are like unopened gifts that have been placed upon your doorstep. You will be amazed to read how every joy, every hurt, and every worry that happens to you has already been written about in the Bible. Godwink Stories simply draws upon the parallel between the stories of real people and God's wisdom in the scriptures. Godwink Stories can be read in various ways. You can read the book cover to cover. Or follow along each week for a year. It's also perfect to read for a pick-me-up story that fits your need of the day. Whether you're looking for encouragement in a time of need or a story that speaks of joy, there's a godwink story just for you. *** Godwink Stories offers weekly readings of godwinks and miracles to encourage and inspire you in every situation. These true stories— from ordinary people—provide Messages of "don't give up" Heartfelt need for love and guidance Hope in the midst of medical crises "Just in time" moments Peace in times of sorrow Tender love stories Amazing answers to prayer

ENCOURAGEMENT TIMES OF SORROW

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1

How Can I Shake My Unhappiness?

Is any one of you in trouble?

He should pray.

Is anyone happy?

Let him sing songs of praise.

James 5:13 NIV

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Are you happy?

Perhaps you’ll say you have problems that prevent happiness such as:

• People are not treating you with respect.

• Or maybe you’ve been “unlucky”; born into a burdensome life.

Does that sound like you?

If so, you may ask, Why are those reasons for being unhappy justified for you, but not for others who are worse off than you? People in more lowly jobs than yours, with worse handicaps? Yet who greet each day whistling and smiling? Or how about those who are sitting in wheelchairs, unable to feed themselves, who nonetheless always have something cheerful to say and are never heard to blame their circumstances? If so, don’t worry.

These people have discovered a secret, but it’s a secret that belongs to you as much as it belongs to them. It’s this: happiness is not something you are bequeathed at birth, like wealth or poverty; it is not something you earn through hard work, like a college education; and it is not something given to you because of your dialect or skin color.

Happiness is a state of mind that you choose for yourself.

Being happy cannot be attributed to circumstances—though many try—and cannot be dependent on someone else—though many think it is.

Happiness is something you can have, right now.

Just by choosing.

Your operator’s manual—the Bible—says:

When times are good, be happy;

but when times are bad, consider:

God has made the one as well as the other.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 NIV

People who are happy have chosen to adopt an optimistic attitude and to approach every day in an intimate partnership with God.

This is the day the LORD has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24 NIV

So ask yourself, “Am I happy?”

If the answer is no, ask, “Do I want to be?”

Janet Marie Withers wrote about a friend who was known for asking people that all-important question:

Are Ya Happy?

My dear friend Sebastian died in December. We worked together and were best friends.

Sebastian always used a personal greeting with me. Whenever he’d come by my desk, he would smile and say, “Are ya happy?”

The day I found out Sebastian had passed away, I was in shock. I left work and prayed for a sign from God that some essence of Sebastian would still survive, in spirit, and that somehow my grief could be heard.

I had to mail a Christmas package. I didn’t feel up to it but decided to go to the post office anyway. As I stood in line, a big man in front of me, about the size of Sebastian, turned and casually asked, “Are ya happy?”

I nearly fainted.

I thought I hadn’t heard him right. Fumbling for words, I finally spilled out: “I’m overwhelmed!”

He smiled gently, turned, and moved forward in line.

I haven’t heard that phrase used often, except with my dear Sebastian. It’s not a typical greeting. I wanted to believe that, somehow, God and Sebastian were reaching out to me from beyond.

I left the post office with a surreal feeling—still unconvinced, still holding on to my grief and pain; still shrugging it off as just a coincidence.

Days later, my son and I were at McDonald’s. An older woman chatted us up and then, suddenly, paused. She looked at me and said, “There’s a book I sense you need.”

She wrote the title and author’s name on an envelope. I kept it until I got home. I was going to throw it away . . . not feeling like receiving any pep talks. But I kept it.

On Christmas morning I opened a gift from my sister, Dorothy, and there it was—that very book—When God Winks at You: How God Speaks Directly to You Through the Power of Coincidence, by SQuire Rushnell.

I excitedly showed my sister the note given to me by the woman I’d met at McDonald’s.

Now it all makes sense. It’s a comfort to know that hearing Sebastian’s phrase, “Are ya happy,” was no coincidence: it was a Godwink!

Janet Marie Withers

What a wonderful lesson from Janet. It makes us wish we all could have known Sebastian. He seems like the type of person who never wandered around telling everyone what a bad day he was having, what terrible things others were doing to him, or what a difficult hand he’d been dealt since birth. Instead, Sebastian chose to be happy. It was that simple.

So can you.

Sebastian was in sync with this teaching from the ancient Scriptures:

I know that there is nothing better for men

than to be happy and do good while they live.

Ecclesiastes 3:12 NIV

Today, decide for yourself whether you are going to look at the glass as half full or half empty. It’s your choice. Yours and God’s. And He wants your glass to be overflowing.

Try being a Sebastian today. Are ya happy?

HEALTH

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2

How Does God Help Me with My Medical Problems?

When I called, you answered me;

you made me bold and stouthearted.

Psalm 138:3 NIV

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Part of the delight in authoring the When God Winks books is discovering where they are taking me. I distinctly remember the day the word Godwink blossomed in my mind . . . and thinking, My, what a friendly little word. Then saying, “Thank you, Lord, for placing it there.” A word to fill a vacancy in the language for so-called coincidences that you are certain could not be coincidence.

It was another delight when the term Godwink Link popped into my head, for it seemed to perfectly identify the person who is the deliverer of a Godwink to you or me—the unwitting messenger who “just happens” to make a phone call at the perfect moment to provide encouragement; or bumps into you, out of the blue, and changes the course of your life through a new job or relationship; or places something precisely where you’ll see it for the purpose of giving you necessary information.

In fact, we are all Godwink Links at one time or another—innocent couriers for God, brightening someone’s day, or in some cases, providing that person with life-saving information.

That was the role of Dolly’s friend—a Godwink Link—as Dolly describes it in her letter.

Dolly’s Godwink Link

My husband and I annually visit close friends, Patty and her husband, at their cabin in West Virginia for a fun weekend. This particular visit was a Godwink for me.

Patty and I were in the kitchen, and she told me she’d gone to the dermatologist for a checkup the week before. While waiting to see the doctor, she watched a video about skin cancer. It raised her concern at first, but the doctor gave her great news—she was fine.

I was at the sink doing the dishes, wearing a tank top, when she came over to me and said, “Dolly, you have a mole on your back that looks funny, you should have it looked at.”

I laughed and said, “Since you saw that video, you’re going to be all over us.”

Well, wouldn’t you know, I was divinely aligned to have a routine doctor’s appointment of my own the following week. The doctor talked with me, did everything he needed to do, and I was getting up to leave when I heard an inner voice say, “The mole.”

I turned to the doctor and said, “Oh yes, I have a mole on m...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• A Personal Note to You
• Chapter 1. How Can I Shake My Unhappiness?
• Chapter 2. How Does God Help Me with My Medical Problems?
• Chapter 3. How Do I Discover My Purpose for God?
• Chapter 4. How Can I Overcome My Terrible Feelings of Anxiety?
• Chapter 5. I Feel Alone, Without a Friend
• Chapter 6. If Someone Is in Trouble, Should I Stop to Help?
• Chapter 7. Will God Really Provide for All My Needs?
• Chapter 8. Will I Ever Find My Perfect Mate?
• Chapter 9. God Never Forgets!
• Chapter 10. Can Laughter Help Relieve My Pain?
• Chapter 11. I Feel So Unimportant—Do I Matter?
• Chapter 12. When I’m in Trouble, Can I Count on God to Hear My Prayers?
• Chapter 13. Will God Deliver Me from the Pain of My Childhood?
• Chapter 14. What Should I Say When a Child Asks About Death?
• Chapter 15. How Does God Reach Out to Connect with Me?
• Chapter 16. Some Days You Want to Throw in the Towel
• Chapter 17. Can Anything Save My Child?
• Chapter 18. What If I’m Not Ready to Be a Mother?
• Chapter 19. How Can I Hear the Voice of God?
• Chapter 20. I Have So Little—How Can I Give?
• Chapter 21. How Do I Face the Unknown?
• Chapter 22. What Can I Do That Pleases God the Most?
• Chapter 23. What Can I Do When I Feel Discouraged?
• Chapter 24. I’m Concerned About the Influence of Hollywood on My Kids
• Chapter 25. Does God Control My Life, or Do I?
• Chapter 26. My Pain and Grief Are Unbearable—How Can I Go On?
• Chapter 27. Thank God for Grandmas!
• Chapter 28. It’s Just Too Hard to Say Goodbye
• Chapter 29. What Can I Do When I’ve Lost Something Valuable?
• Chapter 30. How Can I Relieve My Apprehension About the Future?
• Chapter 31. Can I Trust God to Look Out for Me?
• Chapter 32. How Do We Know God Loves Us?
• Chapter 33. I’m Grieving Over the Loss of a Loved One
• Chapter 34. How Does God Use Doctors to Provide Comfort and Save Lives?
• Chapter 35. Where Am I Supposed to Go—What’s My Destiny?
• Chapter 36. What If I’m Lost on My Journey to Find Love and Happiness?
• Chapter 37. How Can I Find Hope?
• Chapter 38. What Difference Can I Make in Someone Else’s Life?
• Chapter 39. I Feel Stressed About Health Issues
• Chapter 40. How Do I Deal with Disorder?
• Chapter 41. I Wish I Could Take Back the Harsh Things I Said
• Chapter 42. How Do I Know That God Hears My Plea?
• Chapter 43. How Can I Cope with Feelings of Isolation?
• Chapter 44. My Life Seems in Disarray
• Chapter 45. How Can I Learn to Hear God Speaking to Me?
• Chapter 46. How Can I Get Past My Lack of Confidence?
• Chapter 47. How Can I Overcome My Feeling of Loneliness?
• Chapter 48. Is the World Coming to an End?
• Chapter 49. Can I Really Get in Touch with God Any Time of Day?
• Chapter 50. Is God Actively Involved in Getting Me to Help Others?
• Chapter 51. How Can I Possibly Manage Impossible Tasks?
• Chapter 52. Can Love Really Last for a Lifetime?
• Thank You
• Acknowledgments
• About the Authors
• Notes
• Godwink Stories Cross Reference
• Copyright