Coincidence

Some people believe that things happen by chance. And when two chance things happen to work out together, they call it a coincidence. As a Christian though, we know this isn't true. Coincidence is actually something else entirely.

Some people say that the universe happened out of chance. That's a much bigger topic than we can discuss here, so we're going to look at a small part of that (figuratively): the moon. The moon reflects light from the sun at night so that there is enough light to see, but not enough light to keep you awake. It's placed a perfect distance away from the Earth so that it can orbit without crashing into the planet or flying off into space. That same orbit keeps the oceans from getting stagnate by causing low and high tides. As well, the moon has a synchronus orbit and rotation (it rotates at the same speed that it takes to orbit the Earth). That's why we always see the same side of the moon.

How can this be a coincidence? All of these things just happened to be put together just right by chance so that the moon could do all of this? Well, that's what some people believe. The Bible says that God placed the sun, moon, and stars in their places. And since God knows everything (which is more than we can ever know) it be safe to say that He knew exactly what He was doing when He put the moon where it is.

Well, that's great for planets and space stuff, but what about us? Do things that happen in our lives happen by chance? Can there be a coincidence? No, just like God did with the moon, He does with us. Acts 17:26 says:

From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.

So, God has chosen when and where each nationality will live, but what about specific individuals? Proverbs 16:9 says:

A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps.

And Proverbs 20:24 says:

A man’s steps are determined by the Lord, so how can anyone understand his own way?

I think that makes it pretty clear for us. We may think up plans for ourselves to follow, but God is the one who is working everything together, and ultimately He determines where we step.

I was reminded of this today due to a "coincidence" I had this morning. I haven't been feeling too well the past few days, and although I love babysitting on Tuesday mornings, I didn't want to get any of the little ones sick, so I stayed home. It turns out that Kaytlin was having a rough day and needed me to be there for her. I wouldn't have been able to chat with her and pray for her if I had been babysitting, and God knew that, so He worked it out for me to stay home.

When little things like that happen, know that it is God determining your steps for the best possible outcome. There are no coincidences, just places where God works the right things out at the right time. So trust God to direct your steps, and next time you run into a "coincidence," thank God for setting it up.

Godspeed!

- Jason