Called by 10:21: A Story of Intuition & Divine Timing

By Leila Briggs

I’ve always experienced religion and spirituality as something that can exist together.

To me, religion can be spiritual, and spirituality can include aspects of religion - but I also understand that not everyone connects to both, or even either in the same way. What I’ve come to trust most is the direct experience of connection itself, however it shows up.

Maybe it’s because my intuition was already present before religion was formally introduced to me. While I was being taught structure and doctrine, I was also having my own experiences; moments of connection, guidance, and a quiet knowing of God that did not come from a book.

Because of that, my faith has always felt personal. Even fluid in a way. As I got older and my awareness of intuition, Spirit, and religion became more defined, there were moments that stood out in a way I could not ignore. One of those moments was Mark 10:21.

When 10:21 Wouldn’t Let Go

I was in my early teen years, and a lot was shifting in my life at the time.

For weeks, I would wake up or happen to glance at the clock, and it would be 10:21. At first, I brushed it off, but then I started seeing it everywhere - on license plates, on school papers, on posters.

Each time, there was a distinct feeling I have come to recognize as an energetic “zing.” It was a moment where everything in me paused, and something deeper registered that it mattered.

Eventually, it started appearing in my dreams. I would see clocks displaying 10:21, be handed papers with those numbers written across them, or overhear conversations about it.

At that point, it was no longer subtle. It felt persistent, almost insistent.

Asking for an Answer

I began seeking clarity.

Each time I asked, “What is this?” I received the same sense: a Bible verse.

One night, I woke suddenly and looked at the clock. It read 10:21 PM. Frustrated, I got out of bed, found a Bible, and began going through it - highlighting every 10:21 and 21:10, I could find. I approached it methodically, determined to figure it out.

But nothing stood out. Nothing resonated. Nothing had a zing.

Eventually, I closed the Bible and went back to bed, feeling even more frustrated than before.

The Missing Piece

A week or two later, I was at a sleepover with my best friend. As we lay in the dark, talking quietly, I shared everything that had been happening - the repetition of 10:21and how exhausted I felt trying to understand it.

She listened and then asked if she could pray and intend for me as well. I said yes.

Sometime in the middle of the night, I heard my name. I opened my eyes, and she was awake, gently calling to me. Once she knew I was listening, she whispered, “It’s a chapter in the Bible. It’s Mark 10:21. I had a dream.”

Half asleep, slightly annoyed, I whispered back, “I already went through the Bible.”

And she replied, “Go through it again.”

The Message

When I returned home, I went directly to the Bible and found the book of Mark.

Mark 10:21:“And Jesus looked at him and loved him… then said,‘Take up the cross and follow me.’”

It wasn’t highlighted. It had not been read. I had missed it.

In that moment, two things became clear.

The first was that I had not missed it by accident. There was a part of this experience that required connection - that moment with my best friend, the shared intention, and the way the message came through another person. It grounded the experience in something real and relational, not just internal.

The second realization was quieter but just as significant. I understood that my life would involve supporting others - walking with them in some way, helping them navigate their own experiences.

The Kind of Faith You’re Born With

No system or structure can take away a connection that you were born with.

That intuitive knowing, that relationship with God or Spirit, exists beyond definition. It may be shaped by religion, supported by it, or expressed through it - but it is not limited to it.

For me, Mark 10:21 was not just a verse. It was an experience. It was something that found me, stayed with me, and revealed itself when I was ready to receive it.

Even now, I do not experience it as a command. I experience it as an invitation.

To follow. To trust. And to walk a path that was always mine to begin with.

Afterthoughts...

Following Isn’t Always Easy

In that same passage, the man walks away.

Not because he was unloved, but because he was not ready.

That part of the story is just as important.

There are times when we feel a call, sense a direction, or recognize something being asked of us - and we are not ready to meet it. That does not mean the connection is broken. It does not mean we have failed.

It simply means we are still in process.