During a Thanksgiving gathering this year with my family and others, turkey, dressing, and different trimmings were still waiting to be eaten, a conversation that I was listening in on turned to Ohio University. Moments later, as the conversation about Ohio University continued, the Holy Spirit led me to ask my uncle who was sitting across from me: “bobcats?” He nodded and confirmed to me the fact that their mascot is a bobcat! It was one of those amazing moments when God leans in close and speaks through the ordinary. I’m not from Ohio, had no prior knowledge of this, and have never taken the slightest interest in their athletics. In the midst of relatives talking and kids playing nearby, it became a quiet, tender reminder that God delights to speak in details smaller than a mustard seed, simply to convey the message, “I am here.”
That same week, God led me to hear again about another time of His faithfulness in my life on this Earth. I was led by the Spirit to connect over the phone with an old family friend named Bruce. As we spoke, he recounted with fresh wonder how, years earlier on Siesta Key Beach in Florida, God had supernaturally guided me straight to him across the sand. We hadn’t spoken in years prior to that, yet the Holy Spirit used a still, small voice to direct me to walk directly to Bruce who was leaving the beach that day. When I approached and called his name, he looked at me with amazement. That divine appointment on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico became a lasting milestone of God’s intimate care for both of us. Even years later, it was amazing to hear Bruce still speak with awe of how one small step of obedience from me became a profound encounter with the living God for him, proof that He delights to use a simple act of faith to touch hearts forever.
Yet the goodness of God did not end with a whisper or a long- remembered beach encounter. While walking with my young nephew through a thicket, I remembered how, awhile back, he had been captivated by his first live sighting of a bald eagle near to where he lives in Illinois. As we approached an open field, the Spirit led me to pray aloud basically that God would allow him to see another bald eagle very soon. I lifted the request in faith, with family members near to us. Less than five minutes later, before our very eyes, a magnificent bald eagle lifted off the cold ground.
The flash of its snow-white tail and the wide span of its wings was beautiful to see. Astonishment rose from different members in the group; the kids and some of the adults were filled with excitement. In all my years in Ohio, I have never seen a bald eagle in the wild except in that precise moment. Truly, “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16 KJV). In the space of one simple, childlike request lifted in faith, God moved mightily to display His glory and show me once again how near, how kind, and how wonderfully able He is to answer.
The next week, during a small Bible study, a brother in Christ was recounting how the Lord had opened the door years ago to a new position at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, requiring him to relocate. Just as he was about to name the city, the Holy Spirit gently whispered “Lombard” into my spirit with that familiar still, small voice. When the word left his lips—“Lombard!”—I recognized again, just how good God is. Once more, He had spoken ahead of time, not for show, but simply to draw me close and remind me: He is always near, delighting to share His secrets with those who listen.
Great is His faithfulness, and immeasurable is His kindness. God is good, all the time.