Do you ever have those days when you get the distinct impression God is messing with you, and your spiritual ears perk up to see his hand at work? One of those days when things are far from normal from the get-go, and you can't help but think there's going to be some bigger reason for it? For instance, when you leave your house to find a flat tire on your car, or when you wake up to find out your water was turned off when you need a shower, or when you come in to work to find the hard drive in your brand new laptop fried like a curious toddler with a metal fork?

The first two were examples; the third actually happened to me yesterday...

Technical details aside, my brand new work laptop had a dud hard-drive in it, and I was without a computer all day yesterday. We made several jokes about IBM standing for Inevitably Broken Machine, but that's neither here nor there. The important thing to know is that all the "work" I do is done via email, Microsoft Word, or a web-authoring program called RoboHelp. Without a computer, I'm unable to do anything productive.

I swear I just heard a construction crew member somewhere cursing my name...

So, after the tech told me that it would take until at least noon on the following day to get my computer back, I decided to pick up a book called The Energy Bus. Our boss had gotten us all copies of it and asked us to read it in our free time, stating that it was something we could all stand to hear. I figured there couldn't possibly be a better time than this to read it seeing as twiddling my thumbs and texting can only occupy so much of my time at my now primitive workstation.

Curiously enough, the book is about a guy named George who lets poor circumstances like flat tires and big workloads ruin his life. He's always angry because he feels as though he has no control over his life, and he ends up meeting a bus driver named Joy who helps him see his life in a new light [what a cleverly-veiled innuendo for a name, right?] She shows him how these seemingly bad circumstances can be God's way of nudging us to a place where we meet someone we need in our lives, or learn a lesson that we desperately need to learn.

So of course, as I'm reading this, I'm becoming increasingly aware of the fact that God is, in fact, planning to mess with me seeing as he's hacked me off at the knees to do any sort of work and has left me with no other choice but to pass the time by reading a book about the very thing he's doing with me. Bring it on, I said, bring it on!

I continue reading more about this Mr. Rogers-esque bus driver named Joy and how she explains to Georgey-boy that once he is able to see his self-perceived "problems" as part of a bigger story, it's much more likely to be excited, enthusiastic, and energized about what's happening with life. On and on she goes about how people are magnetically attracted to people who are excited, enthusiastic, and energized about what they do, even if they're not leaders. Which I hadn't really realized before, but I found it to be quite true when I really got to thinking about it. Some of the people I admire and look up to the most are those who have a clear vision about their lives and are absolutely passionate about what they do. The positive energy that they emit from being so in-the-zone about what they do hooks any and all observers, even if they're not the slightest bit interested in the subject matter.

For example, while I have virtually no interest in sports, I still find myself baffled when I see the dedication and intensity on the faces of Olympic athletes who have dedicated their entire lives to their passions. This same principle can no doubt hold true for a political candidate. The voters may not be interested in every topic he addresses, but the excitement, enthusiasm, and energy that he conveys as he speaks to the masses will sway the hearts of the voters. There's something about those attributes that inspire us to believe in a person's potential as a leader. The old saying about being able to sell ice to an Eskimo is probably a direct result of people who’ve harnessed their potential like this.

This got me thinking about my own passions. About when I have felt the most excited about an opportunity, enthusiastic to do my best, and energized to commit my time to something. As I thought about it, I was surprised when my honest answer wasn't leading worship – It was teaching English.

Over the summer I visited a very good group of friends in Mexico City, and had the opportunity to sit in on an English course down there. I got to help people native to Mexico understand what words meant in English, how to say them properly, and good ways to remember them. It came so naturally to me that it felt like breathing. I loved every minute of it and would do it for free for the rest of my life.

As I flipped the last page of that shiny yellow book over and clapped it shut, everything came into focus like God was carefully dialing in the lens on my camera.

Several weeks ago, my boss had asked me about an ESL (English as a Second Language) opportunity at her church that met on Monday nights. She knew I was well-versed in Spanish and that I would be a great asset to their program. I unfortunately declined because Monday nights were the nights when we had Immersion worship team rehearsals.

But wait, there’s more!

Over the past few weeks, the Immersion worship team and I have been discussing ways we can streamline our band selection and rehearsal processes a bit. After a lot of brainstorming and praying, we decided that for the 2009 year, we were going to forego having practices on Monday nights at all.

Now, to bring it all together...

So in a matter of hours, God completely destroys the hard-drive in my laptop; forces me to read a book about excitement, enthusiasm, and energy in your life; unveils the passion in my own life that invokes those qualities in me; and tops it all off by showing me that he had planned for me to have Monday evenings free to explore this opportunity in teaching at my boss's church for weeks now.

What a show-off!

But in all seriousness, I love the ways that God orchestrates all of the seemingly mundane details in your life to set you up in perfect position to walk through the next door he has opened for you. Keep your eyes peeled and your ears sharp – he could be after you next! :)