Faith Over Fear: When the Same Message Finds You Twice

Sometimes the message we need finds us in the most ordinary and unexpected ways.

Have you ever had one of those moments when something happens and you just know it was meant for you?

I had one of those this morning.

Actually, I had two.

The first happened at Kroger. I was walking through the store when I caught the eye of a woman. You know those moments when you make eye contact with a stranger, neither of you quite knows what to do, so you look away and carry on? Well, that was pretty much what happened.

As I turned the corner and made my way toward checkout, I saw the same woman again. This time I noticed her T-shirt.

It said, “Faith Over Fear.”

That hit home because right before stepping into the store, I had been praying for help. I was asking for the strength to choose faith over fear, despite how scary it feels to trust God when you can’t see the full picture.

But that’s life. And as it happens, I had been dealing with some tough circumstances that, quite honestly, could make it pretty easy to let fear, worry, and anxiety take over.

But something about seeing those words on that woman’s shirt really caught my attention. It was like everything was saying: “This message is for You!”

Faith Over Fear.

I felt something inside me respond with strength.

I felt good. I didn’t think more of it. I checked out and started heading home.

As I entered the parking lot near my house, I felt this still, small voice telling me to turn left instead of right.

Nothing was particularly exciting about turning right, except that turning left meant taking a slightly longer route to get where I was going. Probably one minute longer. Not a big deal, but noticeable enough that I normally wouldn’t do it. Why take the longer way when there’s a perfectly reasonable shorter way?

But the Holy Spirit inside me said, “Go left.”

So I went left.

As I was getting closer to home, I noticed a neighbor who I knew had been wanting to talk to me, so I decided to get out and say hi to her.

It was a cold morning, so she had on a layer or two, but clear as day, under a few layer it caught my eye she was wearing a T-shirt that said, “Faith Over Fear.”

Two different women. Two different encounters. The exact same message. All within about fifteen minutes of one another.

I’m so glad you passed by,” she said. I didn’t tell her that her place was completely out of my usual way, or that I wouldn’t have seen her at all if I had turned right instead of left. But her words stayed with me.

Moments like that are always worth paying attention to. Just minutes before walking into Kroger, I’d been praying for help—asking for strength—and here I was, receiving the exact same message of encouragement twice in the most ordinary, unexpected, and Divine ways.

Faith Over Fear.

I couldn’t help but smile.

I believe in Divine Synchronicity. I believe that God, the Creator, the Infinite, whatever name you find yourself using for that Higher Power, can communicate with us in ways that we don’t always expect.

And sometimes I think we’re so busy looking for the big answer, the big breakthrough, the big miracle, that we overlook the things happening right in front of us.

Think about it.

What if the answer doesn’t always arrive the way we imagined it would? What if sometimes it’s a stranger at the grocery store? A neighbor in a parking lot? A song on the radio? A conversation you weren’t planning to have?

What if we just need to pay a little more attention?

You are cared for. You are loved. Don’t have to let fear have the final say.

Faith Over Fear.

Sometimes the message finds us.