Things happen to everyone every day. Our gas gets turned off. We woke up late. We decided not to go to work. Later on we are grateful these things happened. Not having gas allowed you to find that leak and fix it to prevent your house from visiting Mars. Since you overslept you were able to avoid being in the pile up on the highway. Since you decided to play hookie, you weren't in the building when it was bombed. Etc. So when we look back on these events, how do we know if it was Him intervening or a coincidence?
A friend of mine asked me a similar question yesterday in an email. His situation isn't as extreme as those I created, but still. How do we know if it is God trying to nudge us or if it is merely a coincidence? I don't know how much faith I put into coincidences. I do know how much faith I put in Him. I think He provides us with learning opportunities or moments of reflection to realize how important He is in our lives. We often put Him on the back burner and then take credit for everything good that happens to us and find a way to blame anyone else when bad stuff happens.
So what do you think? How do we know when it is Him or a coincidence?
2 comments:
Romans 8:28:
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
I don't think it matters if it was a coincidence or not--I believe it's for good, and so they should always be viewed as a nudge from God, imho.
I tend to believe that there is no such thing as coincidence. When "too many" of them happen to/around me, it's usually my clue that God's gotten out her big 'ol clue stick again, and then I *get* whatever it is I'm supposed to get, but was missing through the usual subtle signs and still small voice that Spirit tends to prefer. In the types of cases you cite, perhaps "coincidence" is the miracle through which God sometimes works to save us from disaster?
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