Watching For God-cidents

Inside the Expedition, time froze. Sonja and I looked at each other, passing a silent message: Did he just say what I think he said?

Sonja leaned over and whispered, “Has he talked to you about angels before?”

I shook my head no. “You?”

She shook her head.

—HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, XVIII

Sonja

Colton interrupted our days with glimpses of heaven shared in bits of conversation I call “shock and awe.”

For example, he would make some casual comment, like telling Todd that Todd’s grandpa, Pop, who died in 1975, “has really big wings.”

Or like telling me, “Jesus shoots down power for Daddy when he’s talking.”

Or describing an incident that happened to Todd when he was thirteen that Todd had never shared with our kids.

Colton kept telling Todd and me things he could not have known except by firsthand experience or someone telling him. And absolutely we knew that no one on this planet had told him! Remember, he was just turning four years old. And each time he dropped one of these little shock-and-awe bombs on us, Todd and I would have the same conversation:

“How did he know that? Did you tell him?”

“No, did you?”

“No.”

Then there would be a moment of silence as we gave each other the same perplexed look.

Colton told us personal things that had happened in our lives long before he was born. If there had been an autobiography of the Burpo family at that time, Colton would have described most of the turning points in it. If we didn’t know or remember it ourselves, we would ask others, like Todd’s mom, who would say, “Yes, we did do that,” or, “Yes, that did happen.”

And Colton told us things about heaven—like the fact that Jesus’s chair in heaven “is right next to his Dad’s.” When Todd asked which side, Colton was clear to point out that Jesus sat on God’s right side.

We confirmed everything that could be confirmed either in the Bible or from someone’s personal memory. And we got to the point where we learned to listen to Colton more closely. We knew his experience was real and that something spectacular had happened. We knew what he’d said was accurate, so we were constantly tuned in, wondering what was coming next. If there was no earthly explanation for what Colton told us, we knew there had to be a heavenly one.

The one thing we didn’t have to confirm was that God was involved. We knew that without question.

What about you? Has something happened in your life that could have no earthly explanation? Did a stranger say something to you in the checkout line that was just the right word of encouragement you needed at the end of a long, stressful day? Was it a “coincidence” that you ran into someone at the post office and, without thinking, you said just the words she needed to hear? Did you have a dream that gave you a new perspective on a difficult situation? Did your child say or do something amazing that took your breath away?

Other people might call these unexplainable events coincidences. But did you know the word coincidence is not found in the Bible? Instead I use my own word when I’m thinking about these experiences. If your mind is open to the fact that heaven is real and you can go there someday, you may want to adopt my word into your vocabulary too.

I call them God-cidents.

What gift has God sent your way recently that you dismissed as a coincidence?

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.

—Luke 24:30–31 NIV