What a Coincidence!

What a Coincidence!

             Have you ever had two things come together at the same time and place and you laughing said, “What a coincidence.”  I’ve had these ‘coincidences’ happen many times.  One of the most recent ones was to be at a certain place at the same time as another person.  We did not know each other, but began politely talking and as we talked, I knew she was a Christian who was going through a rough time.  I was able to give her words of encouragement from the Bible and when we parted ways, she was smiling and filled with hope.

            This isn’t about me; it’s about God drawing two people together at the same time place when one needed help and the other had God’s Word to give her.  Coincidence; no!  It was God’s plan that it should happen that way.  I call it “A Holy Coincidence’.  Another time of deep discouragement, God sent a person to speak to me on a lonely rest stop in mountains of Tennessee.  Many years ago when I didn’t know Jesus as my Savior and all hope was gone,

      I watched a Christian program that led me to ask Jesus into my heart and set me free.  Coincidence?  I don’t believe so.  I never watched Christian TV in those days and this program was about another person struggling in the same ways that I did.  Think of it; a program I never watched coming on at the same time I had given up hope and showing another person with the same problems who made it because of Jesus.  I don’t know if I would have made it without seeing this, or if I would even be alive today. 

            How about the time we were driving and suddenly our car stopped and we were right by a garage.  We tried several times to start it, but it wouldn’t work.  We sat there about ten minutes and the mechanic came out and looked at the engine.  He didn’t see anything wrong and got in, turned the key and it instantly started running.  We didn’t understand it, but went on down the road and came up on a terrible accident.  Could that have been us if our car hadn’t stopped?  Coincidence?   I don’t know, but our car never stopped like that again the whole time we owned it.  

            God pre-planned ‘coincidences’ all through the Bible, but we should call them ‘Miracles’.  In Acts 8, we read about a eunuch, Treasurer of Ethiopia, who was riding in a chariot and God sent Philip to witness to him.  In verses 36-37, “As they rode along, they came to a small body of water, and the eunuch said, "Look! Water! Why can’t I be baptized?"  "You can," Philip answered, "if you believe with all your heart." And the eunuch replied, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

            In John 4, Jesus and some of the disciples were going through Samaria and stopped at a well.  At the same time a woman came to the well to draw water.  Jesus asked her for a drink and then began telling her about salvation and also revealed things in her life he could not have known.  She went into the city and told everyone about him.  In verse 39, “Many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did.” She became the first woman evangelist.  Coincidence; no, it was planned by God.

            I’m sure if you think about it, you can recall things that happened to you and you said, “What a coincidence!”  No it is God’s hand in your life and in others.   God has a plan for your life!  It’s not always easy to see what that plan is, but accepting that God wants the best for your life even if it seems difficult sometimes, makes life easier. 

            Things have happened in my life that was so difficult, but when I look back I know why it had to be that way.  I believe that all things are interconnected in some way.  Today, when trouble comes, I tend to ask God, “Father, what are you trying to show me?”   When I had cancer two years ago, I asked him that question and he answered with this, “El Shaddai” which means ’God is enough’; He is all I need.  I keep that note above my desk where I see it every day.  A year ago I broke my right shoulder in four places and an amazing surgeon pieced it back together and I am whole again.  When the pain was bad, I again asked God if I would ever be alright again and He gave me the same answer; “El Shaddai”.

            It’s time for Believers to not claim coincidences, but to rejoice in the greatness of God.  Think on these words and believe them; that’s what faith is all about.

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

 

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God;  to those who are the called according to His purpose.”    Romans 8:28 (NKJV)

 

 

                                                                                                 

 

 

 

           

           

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God;

to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NKJV)