In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths (Proverbs 3:6 NKJV).

Since I still wasn’t sleeping much after God confirmed His call to Japan, one night I decided to do some research to discover what mission opportunities there were in Japan. Maybe I would be able to figure out what our next step was to be, and then maybe I would be able to sleep! I had already learned that OMS International, formerly the Oriental Missionary Society which Charles Cowman had helped to start in Japan in 1901, was still in existence, so that’s where I began my online search.

As I looked at OMS International’s short-term mission opportunities in Japan, I discovered there was a ten-day mission trip scheduled during the only time Donn would be free. The trip was scheduled right after the end of the Penn State summer session and just prior to the fall session. My excitement grew as I looked at those dates. The next morning when Donn commented that I hadn’t gotten much sleep, I replied, “No, but I think I know what our next step is concerning Japan.”

When Donn saw the dates of the trip, he also knew this was no coincidence, and he sent an email to OMS International asking for more information about this mission trip.  After this step was taken, it wasn’t long until I found the physical reason and solution for my sleep issues as well. This, too, I am convinced was no coincidence since God will use every means to guide us in the direction He wants us to go.

Keep us in tune with your Spirit, Father, so that we won’t look on your efforts to guide us as mere coincidences. Amen.  

(Devotional adapted from Homespun Faith, Reflections from the Seasons of Life, copyright 2014 Daisy Beiler Townsend. Available as paperback or e-book: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Xulon Press. There are Links on this website on the Where to Buy Homespun Faith and Sarah’s Legacy page. Locally at Fresh Grounds, M & M Grocery, Penn Alps in Grantsville, Maryland, or from me 724-373-8445.)