Chance

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." - Psalm 32:8

Historians have pointed out some interesting parallels between two American presidents, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, who were elected exactly 100 years apart. Both were deeply involved in civil rights issues; both were assassinated on a Friday in the presence of their wives; both lost a son while they were living in the White House. Lincoln was assassinated in Ford’s Theater; Kennedy was killed riding in a Ford vehicle, and both men were succeeded by individuals whose names were Johnson, born exactly 100 years apart.

Because of the natural laws that God put into effect, certain things can be predicted according to what scientists define as the laws of probability. For example, if 23 people are selected at random, the chances are at least one in two that two of them will have the same birthday.

Psychiatrist Carl Jung spent a lifetime collecting background on rare phenomena which just can’t be explained. In an essay he wrote in 1952, he contended that "coincidences occur much more frequently than probability theories would predict." He described it as "synchronicity".

Can we explain all such things as coincidences or by using the term "It just happens!"?

Long ago, William Shakespeare commented, "There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them how we will." For the individual who is committed to the truth of God’s Word, there is a guidance that goes far beyond coincidence or chance. Known as the providence of God, it is the certainty that for a child of God, there is a force that provides guidance and, at times, direction in ways that we cannot fathom. It is the sure hand of God that guides and sometimes overrides our decisions and our personal will. To Isaiah long ago God said, "...I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go," (Isaiah 48:17).

Viewing life as an intricate game of chance or fate often leaves you with the feeling that you are at the mercy of odds that are not in your favor. But viewing life from the perspective of the Bible makes us see the strong but sure hand of God guiding not only the affairs of our world, but our personal lives as well, when we become the children of God.

The great promises of God regarding guidance are there for us as His children. He says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you" (Psalm 32:8).

For those who are God’s children, there is no such thing as chance or fate. But there is the loving guidance of a Heavenly Father. There is never a coincidence–only an incidence wrought by the Hand of the Almighty. - Resource Reading: 2 Chronicles 32