I read a book called When God Winks At You by Squire Rushnell. It talks about how God uses the power of what we might call ‘coincidence’ and he uses it to communicated with us, comfort us, or even just let us know he’s listening. This might sound absurd, but when we get to the end of this post, I hope you find it encouraging and you’re able to look back in your life and see where God has winked at you.

I asked for several ‘Godwink’ stories from teens and young adults, and I’ve loved getting to read them all. I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do and find them just as encouraging! It’s beautiful watching God work in the smallest details of our lives.

~ ~ ~

God, If You’re Real

by Jubilee A., age range 12-15 years old

Right before I got saved, I went through a period of intense doubting. So I did exactly what Gideon did when he doubted God (Judges 6:36-40): I tested him. I prayed and said, “God, if you’re real, then give me a book before the end of this weekend.” The week came and went, and I forgot about my prayer. That weekend, my grandma gave me a library book. Later, I was thinking it over, and I realized that God had answered me!

Flickers of Hope

by Sadie E., age range 16-19 years old

When my grandfather was dying, my dad was in Washington DC and my mom left in the dead of night to drive down to Oregon (at the time my dad lived in DC for the military and my grandparents lived in Oregon). I had school so I didn’t go, but that meant when I got home, I was completely alone aside from our parrot, Chicky.

But in a few minutes, some friends were coming to pick me up, meaning I’d be completely separated from my last family member here in Washington. I broke down while washing dishes, my head resting on the facet, tears streaming down my face. I felt so shattered. I looked up and out the window and by our bird feeder, there was a flicker. A flicker is a beautiful spotted woodpecker with red or orange on the underside of their wings. A flicker is rare to see, and I immediately felt like God was there. Birds are my comfort, so to see one in one of the hardest times of my life felt like a Godwink.

Similarly I was going through some relationship problems a few months back, and outside of my college I just broke down. I was in my car and it was raining, but something moving around on a tree outside caught my eye. I flicked my wipers and got a good look at what was clinging to the tree. It was a gorgeous downy woodpecker. I’ve never seen one in Washington before, and my mind was immediately brought back a few years to the flicker. The little guy flew off but his presence stayed with me. In a few days my boyfriend and I had worked through things. The woodpecker is a sign of love and strength to me now.

Open Your Eyes

by Eric M., age range 12-15 years old

On Friday, I took a math test. Surprisingly, I knew almost all of the answers (or I thought I knew them, anyway). However there was one which I decidedly did not know, to the point of utter cluelessness. I put in my best guess for it and finished my test at eleven. It was a timed test and I had left myself a couple hours to check my work.

Then I learned that my family and I were going to a First Friday mass, and we left somewhere around twelve. After the mass there was an exposition of the Eucharist for adoration. The lights had been turned out and the small church was lit only by its windows. It was quiet; only a few people remained, silently praying. I sat on the pew and began thinking about my math test. The reason for this was that because of the time limit, the test would automatically submit in less than half an hour, and, being at church, I had not reviewed my answers. I began to think particularly over the one which I was unsure about.

Sparing you the math, I began to figure it out. I borrowed my mom’s phone for the scientific calculator. By the time we left the church and went back to our car, I was well on my way to finding the correct answer (which I did).

Not soon after I thought of the fact—the ‘coincidence’ some might say—that I had been sitting in church when the solution had entered my brain. But what if, in reality, God put it there? And after all, why not? This led me to realize God is working everywhere, even in the most insignificant things: we just have to open our eyes and see it.

Blessed Are The Mourning

by Willow H., age range 16-19

When the morning came for me to say goodbye to my friends in Washington, the entire day was full of movers packing up my home, doing homework in the hot sunroom, and occasionally hiding on the roof to be away from the chaos. The last thing I felt was peace, especially as later that night, I was going to be with the people I really wanted to see, just to say goodbye for who knows how long.

But when I opened my phone first thing that morning, there was a sign of what I truly feel and know was God speaking to me: the verse of the day on the Bible App was Matthew 5:4.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Matthew 5:4 NIV

I made a note in my notes app that simply read, “Great verse to start off today—saying goodbye to yg,” with a screenshot of the verse of the day. (It was 6:14 AM.) Now, whenever I scroll in my notes, I pass by this entry and find a simple knowledge of peace knowing that yes, I will be comforted.

New, Seen, & Loved

by Brynlee B., age range 16-19 years old

This March I’m going on my very first mission’s trip to Malawi, Africa with my mom. There has been a lot of fundraising going towards it, and when we were in the beginning stages of preparation, I was feeling very not motivated to raise this money. I set up a table at one of my mom’s craft fairs where I was selling customized watercolor paintings.

It was nearing the end of the day and I hadn’t made a single sale. I was beginning to feel discouraged and just started ranting to my mom about how I was feeling indifferent about this trip and was starting to doubt if I was meant to go. I was frustrated with God because I felt He was being so so quiet and unclear if I was to go or not.

Two minutes later, a lady came up and read my sign and started saying how glad she was that I was going and how this trip was going to change me. She told of a missions trip she had taken with her daughter and how they had both come back a new person. She said it was so good that I was going; that we needed more teens to go out and do things like this. Cue the tears! I felt so motivated after that. It was the perfect confirmation from God, and left me feeling seen, new, and loved.

~ ~ ~

Every day God is giving us more and more reasons to see Him working. Even if it’s something small, it’s still a sign that God is in constant communication with us—but we have to be on the lookout with our eyes and ears open.

I hope you enjoyed these stories, and if you’d like to share your own ‘Godwink’ story, I would love to hear them in the comments!

‘And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”‘
Genesis 9:12-16 NIV

Thanks for reading, have a great day.
~Willow