You Believe In Coincidences?

Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. Genesis 29:1

Jacob met the woman he will marry. And it happened at a well. So many significant spiritual moments happened at wells in the Bible. Treaties were made there. Revelations of God were experienced there. And it was at a well that Jesus disclosed His identity as the Messiah to a Samaritan woman.  These very people who came to a well never knew they were entering a divine moment. It seemed so normal to each of them. Scripture often says, “He happened upon a well…” yet God had woven circumstances together to make that moment pivotal to that person’s future.

There are no coincidences in the life of God’s child. The steps of a righteous man and woman are ordered by the Lord. God describes His sovereignty in terms of steps, not miles. Every step is under His providence. I’m often asked a question that begins with, “Do you think it’s significant that…..?” My answer is usually yes. Events are connected if you’re God’s child and you’re prayerful. A meeting with a stranger is loaded with implications because it is under God’s umbrella of divine providence. If I chalk something up to coincidence and fail to explore the meaning behind a seemingly common event, I will miss out.

I have missed many flights over the years but later understood that I got to meet someone I wouldn’t have otherwise met. I once crossed paths with four people from Houston in the course of one week and then asked God if I was to be praying for a ministry opportunity in Houston. In a year, it materialized.  Some might say this was reading too much into everything, but I’ve lived long enough to have seen that disproven. God also shed light on it when He said that the steps of a righteous man and woman are ordered by Him.  Without the prayerful exploration of something that turns our heads in wonderment, we will miss kingdom tie-ins.

Jesus said to pray without ceasing. He modeled that and did nothing without God’s nudging. That means that Jesus talked about every single day’s event with His Father. He knew that nothing was a coincidence.

In just a few minutes, I will be going to pray with an elderly, frail man in our neighborhood.  As I was out driving on an errand yesterday, his face flashed across my mind and then I heard God’s whisper.  “Go pray with David.”  I’m acting on it though it would have been easy to dismiss it as my imagination. I will probably know within the hour why God prompted this idea, and request.

The day is in front of me. With You orchestrating my life, no day is without significance to my future and the future of others. Amen