Life has no coincidences

 

I was marveling yesterday how events in my life (and in the lives of others) have truly unfolded in the best way possible. No, not everything that has happened has been good in the traditional definition of good. But what has taken place in our lives seems to have happened at just the right moment, like a puzzle piece snapping into place.

Is that just a coincidence? Coincidence is based on random chance, and maybe there are times when random chance sounds appealing, but I find more comfort in the concept of intentional design.

Stone steps along Hadrian’s Wall, Northern England

Today’s verse is Psalm 37:23.

The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
    He delights in every detail of their lives.

When my brother and I were in England visiting the other half of my brain, we got the chance to go to Hadrian’s Wall. If you’re a Roman history buff or a history buff in general, you’ll know what it is. If you aren’t, well, it’s a long stone wall in northern England that’s really old. My friend had a coworker who doubled as a wall warden up there, so he took us along the wall and explained the history behind it and so on and so forth. All along the wall there was a path that stretched out before us. Sometimes it was straight. Other times it went crooked. Most of the time it went up very steeply. We didn’t have to stay on the path, but honestly along those treacherous rises and fells and steep drops, the path was the best place to be.

I think God’s plan often looks like a difficult and challenge path laid out before us. God has a plan for all of us, and if you’re a Christ-follower He’s working everything out in our lives for our good and His glory. Only God is big enough to take the scattered, senseless, chaotic bits of our lives and weave them into a beautiful tapestry.

It’s easy for me to forget sometimes how carefully He has designed my life. Down to the last split second of every moment I live, He knows everything that’s going to happen to me and everything I need. And if I don’t have what I need before I reach those parts of my life, He will supply them. By the time I reach the decisions points in my life, God will have given me everything I need to not only survive but to thrive.

Things don’t just happen in our lives for no reason. No, they’re not always good. Sometimes they’re bad. Sometimes they’re great and wonderful, and in those moments we need to rejoice and thank God for giving us a situation that worked out. But in the times that aren’t so good, we need to rejoice and thank God that He’s got a plan.

If you’re a Christ-follower, God has ordered your steps. He knows where you’re going, and He knows what you will need along the way. And He’s big enough to orchestrate events in your life to help prepare you for what’s coming.

It’s your choice whether to stay on the path He’s laid out or not. That’s entirely up to you. And even if you get off the path, you can still get back on, but ask yourself what it may cost you if you do before you choose.

The path God has laid out for us may not be easy. On the contrary, it may be really hard, really challenging, but He doesn’t ever do anything without a reason. And that means we’ll learn something along the way that we’ll need later on. We won’t have to walk the path alone either; He’ll be there every step of the way.