Latest / In His Circle / Seedlings: Learning to See God's Hand | Ep 33
Transcript
- 0:01Tiffany Windsor: Welcome to In His Circle Seedlings, where we take a few minutes to plant one small seed of faith that just might grow into something beautiful.
- 0:11Tiffany Windsor: I'm Tiffany Windsor and I am so glad you're here.
- 0:15Tiffany Windsor: I have to tell you about my drive home the other day.
- 0:19Tiffany Windsor: You know those conversations that don't end when the conversation is over?
- 0:24Tiffany Windsor: You leave, get in your car, turn the key, and the person is still talking.
- 0:30Tiffany Windsor: Only now they're talking inside your head.
- 0:33Tiffany Windsor: That happened to me after recording an episode of In His Circle with my sweet friend Heather Brigstock at Southwater Manor.
- 0:41Tiffany Windsor: We had packed up the microphones, given each other hugs, I climbed into my car to head home.
- 0:47Tiffany Windsor: And all the way back I kept hearing one sentence Heather had said.
- 0:51Tiffany Windsor: You can choose to see the hand of God or choose not to see the hand of God.
- 0:57Tiffany Windsor: His hand is everywhere in our lives.
- 1:00Tiffany Windsor: But once you train your eye to look for it, you begin to see it.
- 1:05Tiffany Windsor: Now that sounds simple enough, but for some reason I couldn't stop thinking about it.
- 1:11Tiffany Windsor: Have you ever had something like that happen?
- 1:13Tiffany Windsor: Someone says one little sentence and God says, Oh, we're going to talk about that for a while.
- 1:20Tiffany Windsor: Apparently that was one of those moments.
- 1:23Tiffany Windsor: As I drove home, I started replaying my life.
- 1:27Tiffany Windsor: Not all of it, just the last couple of years, moving from California to Tennessee.
- 1:33Tiffany Windsor: Now let me tell you, when I packed up everything I owned and moved across the country, I thought I had a plan, don't we all?
- 1:42Tiffany Windsor: I was going to get settled, find a church, make a few friends, figure out where the grocery store was, which by the way, I consider a major accomplishment after moving.
- 1:53Tiffany Windsor: Nobody tells you how many times you'll drive into the wrong parking lot when you move somewhere new.
- 1:59Tiffany Windsor: But anyway, life slowly began unfolding.
- 2:02Tiffany Windsor: I found a church, I met wonderful people, Heather invited me to a Bible study, and before I even realized what God was doing, season two of In His Circle found its home at Southwater Manor.
- 2:16Tiffany Windsor: Now here's what's funny.
- 2:17Tiffany Windsor: None of those moments felt especially dramatic at the time.
- 2:22Tiffany Windsor: Nobody handed me a giant sign that said, Attention, Tiffany, this conversation will become important eighteen months from now.
- 2:30Tiffany Windsor: Wouldn't that be nice?
- 2:32Tiffany Windsor: Can you imagine?
- 2:34Tiffany Windsor: God sending us calendar invites.
- 2:36Tiffany Windsor: Please attend this lunch.
- 2:38Tiffany Windsor: You'll need this friend in 2027.
- 2:41Tiffany Windsor: Life doesn't work that way.
- 2:44Tiffany Windsor: God usually whispers.
- 2:46Tiffany Windsor: He doesn't announce, and because he whispers, sometimes we don't recognize his hand until much later.
- 2:53Tiffany Windsor: Heather said something else that made me smile.
- 2:56Tiffany Windsor: She compared it to looking for four leaf clovers.
- 3:00Tiffany Windsor: When you were little, someone probably told you they're lucky.
- 3:04Tiffany Windsor: So you start looking.
- 3:06Tiffany Windsor: At first, you never find one.
- 3:08Tiffany Windsor: Then one day, there it is.
- 3:10Tiffany Windsor: And after you found your first one, suddenly they seem to be everywhere.
- 3:16Tiffany Windsor: Did more four leaf clovers suddenly appear?
- 3:19Tiffany Windsor: No.
- 3:19Tiffany Windsor: You simply trained your eyes to recognize them.
- 3:24Tiffany Windsor: I think it's the same with God.
- 3:26Tiffany Windsor: The more we begin looking for his fingerprints, the more we realize he's been there all along.
- 3:33Tiffany Windsor: I chuckle and catch myself saying, Oh, there you are again.
- 3:38Tiffany Windsor: Almost like he's been quietly following me around, except, of course, I've got that backwards.
- 3:45Tiffany Windsor: I've been following him.
- 3:46Tiffany Windsor: He's been leading me all along.
- 3:49Tiffany Windsor: Proverbs three tells us, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
- 3:56Tiffany Windsor: In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
- 4:01Tiffany Windsor: For years I thought acknowledging him meant thanking him.
- 4:05Tiffany Windsor: And it certainly includes that.
- 4:07Tiffany Windsor: But lately I think acknowledging him also means recognizing him, looking back and saying, Oh, that was you.
- 4:16Tiffany Windsor: That closed door, that was you.
- 4:19Tiffany Windsor: That unexpected friendship, that was you.
- 4:22Tiffany Windsor: That delay I complained about that was you too.
- 4:26Tiffany Windsor: The Bible study Southwater Manor Heather season two that was all you know what's funny?
- 4:33Tiffany Windsor: When I was living through those moments, they felt pretty ordinary.
- 4:37Tiffany Windsor: I wasn't thinking this is one of those life changing days.
- 4:41Tiffany Windsor: I was thinking, I hope I don't get lost driving home.
- 4:45Tiffany Windsor: Isn't that real life?
- 4:46Tiffany Windsor: We're busy living it while God is busy weaving it together.
- 4:51Tiffany Windsor: I think sometimes we expect God to show up with fireworks, big miracles, loud announcements, parting seas, and sometimes he does.
- 5:02Tiffany Windsor: But more often he seems to work through conversations, friendships, tiny invitations, little nudges, a drive home where one sentence refuses to leave your mind.
- 5:14Tiffany Windsor: The older I get, the more convinced I become that remembering is a spiritual discipline.
- 5:20Tiffany Windsor: Sometimes faith isn't just looking ahead, sometimes faith looks backwards.
- 5:25Tiffany Windsor: Because when I look ahead, I usually see questions.
- 5:29Tiffany Windsor: When I look back, I see God's faithfulness.
- 5:33Tiffany Windsor: Maybe that's exactly what you need today.
- 5:35Tiffany Windsor: Maybe nothing makes sense looking forward.
- 5:38Tiffany Windsor: Can I encourage you?
- 5:40Tiffany Windsor: Try looking backward for a few minutes.
- 5:43Tiffany Windsor: Where was God protecting you?
- 5:45Tiffany Windsor: Where was he redirecting you?
- 5:47Tiffany Windsor: Who did he bring into your life at exactly the right moment?
- 5:51Tiffany Windsor: What prayer did he answer that you almost forgot you prayed?
- 5:55Tiffany Windsor: I have a feeling if you spend a little time looking, you'll start seeing his fingerprints everywhere.
- 6:01Tiffany Windsor: And once you begin noticing them, you'll never stop seeing them.
- 6:06Tiffany Windsor: Here's a circle sister prayer for you.
- 6:09Tiffany Windsor: Heavenly Father, thank you for the quiet ways you guide our lives.
- 6:14Tiffany Windsor: Forgive us for the times we've been so focused on where we're going that we've forgotten to notice where you've already been.
- 6:22Tiffany Windsor: Open our eyes to recognize your fingerprints in our stories.
- 6:26Tiffany Windsor: Help us trust you even when we can't yet connect the dots.
- 6:31Tiffany Windsor: Thank you for every friendship, every conversation, every closed door, and every unexpected opportunity that you've used to lovingly direct our steps.
- 6:42Tiffany Windsor: May we become women who not only believe you're working, but who learn to recognize your hand more and more each day.
- 6:51Tiffany Windsor: In Jesus' name, amen.
- 6:54Tiffany Windsor: This story is what I call one of my seedlings.
- 6:57Tiffany Windsor: They're simply little God moments throughout my day that start as tiny seedlings in my heart and eventually grow into stories I get to share with you here on In His Circle.
- 7:08Tiffany Windsor: If you would like to connect, leave a comment, or share your own God moments, I'd love to see you over on Substack at inhiscircle.substack.com.
- 7:18Tiffany Windsor: That's where you'll find more articles, the In His Circle podcast, and our growing community.
- 7:25Tiffany Windsor: You can join us for free or subscribe for expanded content.
- 7:29Tiffany Windsor: Before I go today, I want to leave you with one simple reminder.
- 7:34Tiffany Windsor: God's hand is probably closer than you think.
- 7:37Tiffany Windsor: Maybe today take a few minutes and look back.
- 7:41Tiffany Windsor: You just might discover he's been faithfully leading you all along.
- 7:45Tiffany Windsor: Until next time, keep spending time in God's Word, keep talking with Him, and keep taking that next faithful step.
- 7:52Tiffany Windsor: Because we're all learning to walk faithfully one step at a time.
- 7:56Tiffany Windsor: I'm Tiffany Windsor and thank you for joining me in His Circle.