Christians have been known to offer that there is no such thing as a coincidence. Their response to weird circumstances that would result in being called such is that it was by God’s hand that such and such occurred. Let’s look at a real-life example of the two and you decide which works for you. But first, a Clift notes version of each.
Mirriam-Webster’s dictionary offers this as one definition of coincidence: “the occurrence of events that happen at the same time by accident but seem to have some connection”.
The God’s hand approach is based on a belief that throughout the Bible there is a dearth of profound examples that indicate that God has a plan and purpose for His Children (us) and that His will, not ours, will be the end result in circumstances. Thus, His hand is used as a term to indicate that no matter what we might think, His will is being played out.
So now, that short story; A road trip was planned to a city to visit family. A round trip airline ticket was purchased for a side trip from the destination city for a quick side jaunt to visit a friend in another city for a couple of days during the visit to the family. This was to kill two birds with one stone–one trip, two visits. The weekend before the trip a family member in first city came down with Covid. Not good, so that trip was cancelled. To make a very long story short, the flight for the jaunt visit couldn’t be changed because by some unscrupulous practice that ticket was purchased with miles, and not the funds from my debit card. No refund either, for the same reason. Then the icing on the cake. The friend I was going to visit called to say that he had come down with symptoms and tested positive. I see no coincidence in this sequence of events. I only see God’s hand at work–He didn’t want me to make that trip. I am totally good with that and trust Him. Could it be that there was perhaps a nasty wreck somewhere along the drive that I could have been involved in? Could it be that He simply wanted to protect me from Covid exposure? I will never know, but I trust His unknown reason well enough that I know that His plan for my life is on track because of it.
This is why the words luck and coincidence don’t ring any bells with me. And should anyone reading this perhaps believe in luck and coincidence, perhaps God’s hand is once again at work if it causes them to rethink–God doesn’t give us luck and coincidence (man-made), he gives us His hand–His plan and purpose.
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