God and coincidence

[guest6024]

So....  :laugh:

....If I step out my door one day...

...Let's say I'm going  somewhere very important like...A new Christian Universalist church that has just opened  :Peace2: and I've waited on this moment for years  :gimmefive: and I've spent ages getting 'dolled up'  :LH: (snigger) on this 'day thee LORD hath made' and I'm happy  :laugh:  :banana: and full of love  :HeartThrob: and can't wait to get there and meet everyone  :friendstu: and I open my door and step outside and....  :eek: A big bird flies past; 'squaking' something at me in 'koine bird' and does it's business all over me...  :mock: Caking me in that morning's breakfast (a lovely concoction of flies and worms pulp)...(And worse...Supermarket bread).

...Is it God?  :Chinscratch:
...Or does God just set the universe in motion and just sit back? (Coincidence).  :dontknow:

What I mean is did God purpose this to happen to me?   :dontknow: Did He see me that day and think:
'Look at that Marc thinking he's all cool and that!  I'll soon humble that one!'  :laugh: (Or 'something' like that!)  :Chinscratch:
Or...Did it just happen?...Like...I could just have easily walked out that day one second sooner and the bird would have missed me and it's just 'sods law' or 'bad luck'.?  :dontknow:

I'd love to hear thoughts on this.  :Pray:

[MusicLover123]

Ecclesiastes 3
1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven

Ecclesiastes 9
11I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Isaiah 46
10Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure

Knowing that God is in control, I think He lead you to that. And, am thinking when it says coincidence and chance, it is from our perspective, and not His. He leads us in all things, and His wisdom may increase in you, as His power increases in you.

Thanks for sharing!  :Peace2:

[Ross]

...Or does God just set the universe in motion and just sit back?
What I mean is did God purpose this to happen to me?   

I like the illustration about life here on earth being on stage in front of the heavenlies.
Some people are centre stage- the ecclesia;
some work behind the stage- the extras like angels;
some are the props - the other people not yet aware of the author's purpose and plan, along with all the events/acts.
then the action happens, followed by the critics- The critics being all the ministers claiming to know the plan yet miss the key points. They try to correct the ecclesia and even knock them down for  poor acting- those critics claiming to know the author but do not accurately know the script.

The purpose is for all to be led to Christ.
The props and events are many. Some dramatic, some basics.
Little events like a bird making a donation and trying to "get a head" in life can be twisted by the bad guy, Satan, who keeps trying to doctor the script and add stuff left right and centre. Kind of like the audience throwing rotten fruit at the actors.

The next stage will happen when the author, Jesus, pulls back the heavenly curtains to show the whole scheme to everyone.

[anti_nietzsche]

I think there are meaningful coincidences and random ones. God can use powerful and good coincidences to draw our attention, but often they simply happen by chance and do not mean anything. For example, I once thought that Satan had made me say evil words to my mother because she had fallen down the stairs and I thought I was the cause. Recently I examined this bad memory again and noticed that I had been having obsessive thoughts about satan every 5 minutes or so back then. If you have such continual bad thoughts and something bad happens, there is no cause and effect connection. When I lick ice cream all day it's normal that I am also finding myself licking ice cream when the doorbell rings. If you analyze it, the brain and the heart often like to see patterns in everything and them also being flesh means they are weak and dumb and not so wise and our self being somewhat partial to the body sometimes doesn't listen to the spirit and so it becomes confused by nonsensical stuff. If you think about it, the vast majority of coincidences do not mean much, we are simply hypnotized by our thoughts, by the clock, by what we see, and draw psychotic connections that in reason do not exist. I am currently reading a psychiatrist who explored these things in depth, his name is Carl Gustav Jung. He mostly says that coincidences, which he called synchronicities, are unfathomable patterns. I have experienced maybe 5 big ones in my life and if you count down the chances that's perfectly probable. The world is ticking and our brain also is ticking, and sometimes they tick at the same time. And we humans are made such that we also have silly aspects to ourselves, so just laugh and stay sane...