The Question of Coincidence: 3 Ways to Interpret Chance
A connection with a stranger
results in inspirational conversation. Is this a question of
coincidence or God-incidence?
Last week, in a fabric shop far from home, I tagged a stranger. I asked her if the piece of knit I was excited about was a color I could wear.
The conversation began with discussing the pros and cons of knits and colors. It went on to our personal lives, and we found heaps of coincidences in our life journeys. It ended with inspiring and helpful information.
I left the encounter feeling blessed.
It felt like more than chance or coincidence.
Why was she there when I needed to hear what she had to say?
How did the long conversation stray into the topic of autism?
She shared the story of her daughter’s journey with an autistic son, which so closely parallels our own. She said, “They were guided each step of the way by the Hand of the Lord. Each time they needed something to happen, they prayed for help. And God provided the right person to help them reach the goal they were seeking.”
As I look back on our journey, I realize that I often took the help we received for granted. I “knew” my family would stand in the gap and that my church would provide love and care. I never doubted that God could take care of Kim in situations where only He could rescue her.
Thinking about the fabric shop connection reminds me to be more thankful; to be more aware of what God did for us all along the way.
Was this sweet lady,
(who kindly said she was sure the fabric would be fine, but when that first enthusiasm dimmed and reason returned, I knew clearly it wouldn’t work for me after all),
was she a messenger from God, placed in that shop on purpose?
Three Ways to Interpret Chance
1. Does God plan chance encounters for our benefit?
Does belief in God’s desire for our best outcomes cause us to label them as Godly interventions and/or blessings?
A wise person on a forum said,
There’s no such thing as coincidence.
unknown
Everything happens for a reason. Open your senses and you’ll start to notice that these “coincidences” turn out to be some sort of aspect of your life or “destiny” that you’ve only begun to notice. Life is your destiny.
Coincidences are just a skeptic’s piece of the pie.
Yogi Berra said, “That’s too coincidental to be a coincidence.”
Meaning that it was planned or allowed by Someone.
The word coincidence is translated from the Greek word synkyrian, which is a combination of two words syn and kurios. Syn means “together with,” and kurios means “supreme in authority.” A biblical definition then would be “what occurs together by God’s providential arrangement of circumstances.” Source.
My favorite coincidence in the Bible, and not only because this is the Season we’re heading into at the time of this writing, is the story of Jesus’ birth.
Old Testament prophesy puts Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. What are the chances that, hundreds of years after the prophecy, this poor couple from Nazareth would travel to Bethlehem so close to Mary’s due date?
No “chance” at all. It was God-incidence, and it always inspires.
2. Some people never experience coincidences.
If we didn’t believe in a Higher Power, would we even notice coincidences?
A coincidence itself is in the eye of the beholder.
source
If a rare event happens in a forest and no one notices
and no one cares, it’s not really a coincidence.
Dr. David Spiegelhalter collects stories about coincidences. But he says he never experiences them himself. He never talks to anybody on trains, or looks for a connection when he meets someone. His website, Understanding Uncertainty wants to hear your stories about coincidences. Even though he never has any himself, he wants to study who has them and why.
He tends to believe it’s only some types of brains that have them, or certain personalities.
Which may be true.
But I’m glad my brain tends that way, because it makes life more fun.
Last evening,
in a conversation with my g’littles,
the middle one asked,
“Who took Grandpa to heaven?”
Coincidentally, they weren’t at my father’s funeral last week, but attended their step-grandmother’s, closer to home.
So their minds were on the same things as mine, and it was an awesome chance for an inspirational discussion. (While my 3 year old loved the thought of angels flying people to heaven, she didn’t want to be an angel yet. Thankfully.)
3. Coincidences are just random events that have no meaning.
Violet Jessop, a nurse who worked for the White Star Line, lived through three ocean liner crashes: the Olympic in 1911, the Titanic in 1912, and four years later, the Britannic.
The fact that she was on all three ocean liners when they crashed, and survived all three, seems random a century later. Did it have meaning to her, or someone she knew back then?
It’s highly likely.
One day this fall we held vigil, waiting for the outcome of Dad’s nurse’s prediction that his address would soon change. I was calm all day.
Then, in the evening, I suddenly felt gripped with unease, even fear.
Later I discovered that feeling coincided with the time of his passing.
This coincidence didn’t have meaning for anyone other than myself, but I believe God gave me that feeling, and I treasure it.
Do you call inspiring connections coincidence or God-incidence?
Charlotte Armstrong says, “Coincidence means only a connection that is not seen. Roots meet underground.”
In many circumstances, only we find the connection, because it has meaning that inspires us.
However, the telling of it can bring blessings to others.
