God Wink Stories

A Devotional

Chapter 2: Health

"When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted."

Psalm 138:3 NIV

Part of the delight in authoring the When God Winks books is discovering where they are taking me. I distinctly remember the day the word Godwink blossomed in my mind . . . and thinking, My, what a friendly little word. Then saying, “Thank you Lord, for placing it there.” A word to fill a vacancy in the language for so‑called coincidences.

Along my journey, I soon learned to disengage myself from thinking that I was the person writing these books. I am not. I write them down.

It was, therefore, another delight when the term Godwink Link popped into my head, for it seemed to perfectly identify the person who is the deliverer of a Godwink to you or me—the unwitting messenger who “just happens” to make a phone call at the perfect moment to give you encouragement; or bumps into you, out of the blue, and changes the course of your life through a new job or relationship; or places something precisely where you’ll see it for the purpose of giving you necessary information.

In fact, we are all Godwink Links at one time or another— innocent couriers for God, brightening someone’s day, or in some cases, providing that person with life-saving information.

That was the role of Dolly’s friend—a Godwink Link— as Dolly describes it in her letter.

Dolly’s Godwink Link

My husband and I annually visit close friends, Patty and her husband, at their cabin in West Virginia for a fun weekend. This particular visit was a Godwink for me.

Patty and I were in the kitchen, and she told me she’d gone to the dermatologist for a checkup the week before. While waiting to see the doctor, she watched a video about skin cancer. It raised her concern at first, but the doctor gave her great news—she was fine.

I was at the sink doing the dishes, wearing a tank top, when she came over to me and said, “Dolly, you have a mole on your back that looks funny, you should have it looked at.”

I laughed and said, “Since you saw that video, you’re going to be all over us.”

Well, wouldn’t you know, I was divinely aligned to have a routine doctor’s appointment of my own the following week. The doctor talked with me, did everything he needed to do, and I was getting up to leave when I heard an inner voice say, “The mole.”

I turned to the doctor and said, “Oh yes, I have a mole on my back that my friend said I should have looked at.”

He examined it. “It does look a little funny,” he said casually. “Let’s take a biopsy.”

Three days later he telephoned and said, “Dolly, I am as shocked as you. It’s melanoma.”

I promptly went in for surgery, the doctor got it all, and

I’ve felt good ever since. I asked him, “How long would you have given me if I hadn’t found this when I did?”

He looked at me seriously and said, “About two years.”

Isn’t it wonderful the way God works? He used my friend to alert me to the mole on my back because He knew I would never see it and had no other reason to see a dermatologist.

I praise God all the time for using my friend as my Godwink Link.

Thank you for letting me share my story. I love telling it.

Dolly Estep

Isn’t that just the way God works?

Patty “just happened” to have the information Dolly needed, having seen a video.

· Dolly “just happened” to wear a tank top that day.

· Patty “just happened” to see a mole that Dolly couldn’t possibly see.

· Dolly “just happened” to have a scheduled appointment with the doctor.

· The doctor was now divinely aligned to test the mole and perform the surgery before the melanoma could become a fatal problem for Dolly.

Now—tell us God had nothing to do with that!

Your heavenly Father cares for you and all his children. He knows what you need before you do. And, with loving eyes, He is always looking out for you.

If God is concerned about tiny sparrows in the sky, then how much greater is His concern for you? He considers you much more valuable than the sparrow.

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?

Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.

And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

Matthew 10:29–31 NIV

“God is watching you,” say the words to a song.

Another classic song tells us:

"His eye is on the sparrow,

and I know He watches me."

Yes, he does!
Excerpted and used with permission by Simon & Schuster. Read more about GodWink Stories here!