A Sign

I believe that God sends us all little signs here and there, and that we can either choose to recognize them or we can choose to ignore them.  Some call these signs 'coincidences', but I have experienced so many, that I gave up calling them that many years ago.  I like to say, the first time it's perhaps a coincidence, and the second and the third and maybe the fourth, but after the tenth or fifteenth or twentieth, it's obvious that there is a greater power at work. 

Many of us had been praying for Cynthia.  It had been a particularly bad year and a half for the poor woman.  She'd suffered so much emotional pain waiting for the double mastectomy that she would have to undergo. Her family and friends didn't know if she would make it after the operation because of the complications that arose. Her physical pain was, of course, no minor thing. The depression that followed was great, but as the months passed, the healing began, and her family was encouraged by her progress.  They began to hope again. Sadly, a year later there came another great blow. The doctors determined that she now had a tumour on her spine. The cycle of worry, depression and hopelessness began anew.

Cynthia's good friend telephoned me to tell me of the latest diagnosis. "Can you please ask your friends to pray for her?"  So, once again, we all started to lift her up in prayer. The operation was to take place on a Friday morning in February.

That same morning, several friends were at my house for our weekly Bible study and prayer meeting.  As soon as they got in the door, I asked them if we could pray together since Cynthia would be having the operation at that time.  They agreed, of course, and began to pray. We prayed for Cynthia once more before we left the house that afternoon. Then, it was upstairs to the computer, to feed my Scrabble addiction.

It was 1:50 p.m. when I opened the game app, and there on the board to my amazement, were these seven letters....CYNTHAI...with just a little tweaking they spelled the name CYNTHIA!!!!  This was incredible.  I'd been playing on-line scrabble for years and had never before had anything like that happen! I, of course, took this as a sign to pray once again.  I had learned from many experiences in the past, of God's love for His children.  This to me, was sure proof of just that!  He loved Cynthia and was going to show His love for her.  I felt a great sense of excitement and knew at that point that the outcome of the operation would be good!  Just as I'd turned the letters around to make the name right, He was going to turn the situation around, to make it right.

The operation was successful!  Now, they would have to wait about three weeks for the results.  During that time, we continued our prayer vigil, but now we prayed giving thanks, with the certainty that the results would be great.

Three weeks passed and I heard from Cynthia's friend that not only was the operation a success, but that my conviction that the outcome would be good, was correct.  The tumour was benign!