Are you there, God? It's me, Shari......

For the last week and a half, I have been awake long before the chickens. In fact, I started to notice a very scary pattern in the last few days. I have been awake at exactly 5:38 a.m. EVERY DAY. If my mind worked like a gambler's, I'd be running off to the local lottery place and playing that combination of numbers every which way I could. But I'm not, so I haven't.

This morning, when I was awake at yet again 5:38 a.m., a crazy thought struck me. Maybe this is a sign. Then I got to thinking, what kind of sign is 5:38? What could that possibly represent? The more I looked at it, the more I thought, "hmmm.....that could be a chapter and verse from a book in the Bible." I realize some people might think I was delirious, crazy or both for even coming to that conclusion, but the mind does funny things when it is tired. So out of curiosity (and the fact that no one else is awake at that hour in my house), I got out my Bible and looked through every book in it. Do you want to know how many books in the Bible actually have a chapter 5 with a 38th verse in it? Because, I can tell you, I now know. It's five. Exactly five. All four gospels have a 5:38 and the book of Acts. That's it. Here is what each of them say:

Matthew 5:38----You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'

Mark 5:38----When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.

Luke 5:38----But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.

John 5:38-----You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.

Acts 5:38----So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone: because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail;

After reading all of them and the context in which they are written, I am not sure how they apply to me. When I saw the first few, it made me think of the shootings in Pittsburgh and my post about how I don't think the accused will ever find Christ. I got to thinking, maybe this is God's way of saying I am wrong and I should have some faith. But then I read the verse in Acts and it threw me off of that thinking. So at this point, I am not sure how they relate to one another or to me. Maybe this isn't why I've been awake at 5:38 a.m. every morning for over a week. Maybe I am just crazy. But if any of you have any ideas of what these versus might be trying to tell me, I'm all ears. Otherwise, I'll just move along and chalk this one up to lack of sleep and brain cells. :)