Coincidence?

I have become a firm believer that there are no accidents or coincidences in life. I know that this might border on determinism; you would understand this if you took Philosophy 101 in college. If you are a Calvinist than it is easy to say that God has his ‘fingers’ in everything. The challenge is that no one wants to see life as a puppet on a string!

I have too many stories to write about that would almost make it scary if you didn’t believe in a sovereign God who is all about grace and mercy. So here’s a story that is just fairly normal for my day-to-day life. We are in San Diego over the New Year’s weekend to get some rest and refreshment. I always struggle with whether I just ignore all calls, screen some, just in case there is some emergency and ignore e-mail and social media.

I get a call from one of my single moms who is going through some rough times. I listen to her message because her mom has some serious health issues. (She has kidney failure, is a diabetic, does dialysis three times a week and now has shingles.) So I am always afraid that she will be in the hospital with complications. So I listen to the call and it’s about her daughter needing a twin mattress. I choose not to immediately call her back because we are doing some family fun event like going on a Harbor Cruise in San Diego.

I get an e-mail from a close pastor friend who has a neighbor who is getting rid of a couple of twin mattresses. I almost chuckle to myself about God’s timing. So I do quickly text back my non-techno pastor friend and then I do call the single mom to give her the great news that there is a bed for her daughter.

I get back from our little vacation and make arrangements to get the bed and tell the single mom that it is coming. I go out to my pastor friend who lives in a nice suburban house and joke about his yuppy lifestyle. We load the mattresses; yes three, into the back of my truck. We walk across the cul-de-sac to thank his neighbor, who has the perfect dog protecting his front door. (My dogs would have barked up a storm while waiting for me to get to the door. This magnificent Boxer stood at command and didn’t bark once.) I drive off after talking to my good friend who asked if I really like doing this kind of thing. I quickly remark that I don’t want to be a Good Will or Salvation Army but usually will ask my network of friends for help when there is a specific need and usually within a day it happens.

I drive back to my neighborhood, which looks a lot different from my pastor friend’s house. As I approach my single mom friend it strikes me that God set this up. I didn’t have to even e-mail or talk to anyone. I get a voice mail from the mom and an e-mail from another friend. So yes I affirm both God’s sovereignty and man’s apparent free will. Yeah, it is a mystery, as to how God does accomplish his will even when I’m being disobedient. So don’t be surprised when amazing things happen that show that there isn’t such a thing as coincidences. God is full of surprises!