No Coincidences?

Genesis 26; Esther 2; Matthew 25; Acts 25

Our favorite television show is NCIS. One of the reasons I like it is that the main character does not believe in coincidences. I don’t either. As a new Christian, one of the first Bible truths I learned was this:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:28–29)

It says “all things” are used by God to make His people like Jesus, me like Jesus. I can remember my delight when I realized that He was in charge of all of life’s events, whether I could see what He had in mind or not. This ties to the idea that there are no coincidences. It also ties to a story in the Old Testament.

The Jews were under the rule of a pagan king. His queen disobeyed him so he gathered all the beautiful young virgins in his kingdom to select a new queen. One of these women was Esther, an orphan raised by a relative named Mordecai. They were Jews but kept that information to themselves.

Now when the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him. In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai. When the affair was investigated and found to be so, the men were both hanged on the gallows. And it was recorded in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king. (Esther 2:19–23)

Coincidence? Most would not give this too much thought, but God had His hand in this event. As the story unfolds, one of the king’s servants was promoted. He went on a power trip. When Mordecai refused to bow down to him, he hatched a plot to have all Jews killed. To make a longer story short, Esther devised a plan of her own.

In the meantime, the king had trouble sleeping one night. Another coincidence? Not so. He “gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. And the king said, ‘What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?’”

No honor had been so this pagan king honored Mordecai. The bottom line? Because of two odd events, an overheard conversation and a sleepless night, God gave Esther what she needed to save her people from destruction.

The practical application for my faith is easy — don’t sweat about whatever life hands me. God isn’t idle and His plans include every detail. Some are mere tests that give me opportunity to obey Him and act like Jesus. Some show me where my character needs work. Some are like this story because they are linked together as part of a ‘plot’ that God is setting up to bring a blessing.

I cannot always figure it out but assuming God is in everything makes live an adventure. It changes how I think about interruptions. It is helping me with the normal questions of grief — such as ‘why now?’ It keeps my eyes and thoughts on the power of God. The news is full of tragic events and while I cannot (and should not) suppose I know what God is doing with those events, just knowing that He is at work produces peace in my heart . . . most of the time!

Lord, I believe . . . erase my fears and doubts and help my unbelief. Keep reinforcing the truth — there are no coincidences because You are in charge!

God, guidance, and answered prayers

Abraham sent a servant a long distance to find a wife among his kinsmen for his son. The servant asked God to guide him. Finally he arrived at a well and a young woman arrived at the same time. He asked her for a drink and she offered to feed his camels, a specific action or sign that he had asked for in his prayer. As the servant wondered if she could be the one, she identified herself as relative of Abraham. At that, she added, “We have plenty of both straw and fodder, and room to spend the night.”

The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.” (Genesis 24:25–27)

God usually does not give me a sign as plain as that, but as Chambers says, those who are “one with God  . . . do not continually need to ask for guidance.” He adds that “Sanctification means that we are made the children of God, and the natural life of a child is obedience—until he wishes to be disobedient, then instantly there is the intuitive jar.”

I usually know instantly when I’ve stepped out of the will of God. Last week, I shared something God was teaching me in a Bible study group. That was God’s will. However, I later shared it with two other people and felt the “jar.” It was not God’s will. He quickly revealed to me that my motivation was more about my own glory than His.

Chambers agrees that when God gives that nudge, I have to stop and get things right. He says Christians can “see God in exceptional things, but it requires the culture of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail.”

I agree. Like a game of “I spy” in which God is teaching me to be continually on the lookout for Him. He reveals Himself in ways something like basketball coach Dan Hayes described, “All I know is that when I pray, coincidences happen; and when I don't pray, they don't happen.”

Even as I watch for God and as He reveals Himself, my heart needs to be set to do His will. Then He guides me in ways that seem very natural.

Chambers’ words are condensed from speeches he made so these devotional readings sometimes seem disjointed or rambling. In this one, his remarks jump around a bit. However, he ends with a statement that resonates with my current spiritual life: “It is easier to be a fanatic than a faithful soul, because there is something amazingly humbling, particularly to our religious conceit, in being loyal to God.”

I find that to be true. All of what God does puts me in awe, yet at the same time His actions and ‘coincidences’ put me on my face.

For example, last night a person called that I’ve been praying for many years. This person once made a profession of faith and was baptized, but seems far from God and never talks about spiritual matters. Our 30-minute conversation was about God, faith, good, evil, and was so in harmony with the Holy Spirit that I nearly said, “Who are you and what have you done with (his name)?” God is at work answering my prayers!

Because prayer is hard work, much of my praying happens because of loyalty to God and His desire that I pray. Being loyal to God draws me closer to Him and deepens my understanding of Him, but it does not ‘earn’ His answers. Instead, prayer is often a mystery. However, His answer to that prayer astonished me. Like the servant looking for Isaac’s wife, I knew God could do it, but the way He answered was a blessed surprise, beyond anything I could have expected . . . .

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20–21, NIV)

Thirsty?

When things converge in a delightful way, most people call it coincidence. For those of us who know God, we see His divine providence at work.

I’m continually praying for my children, which is one item of the five that converge this morning. The second is reading the prayer of Daniel in Daniel 9:3ff which is how I have been praying lately. The third is that I have been wondering if God is listening, yet filled with the sense that my only appeal is in His mercy. The fourth is last week’s evidence of answered prayer for one of them, which was a great encouragement. Now today, my devotional guide takes me to Isaiah 44:3, which says, “For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.”

That is one blessing for today—the reminder that God is hearing my prayers and He will pour out His Spirit on my family. Every time I read this passage from Isaiah, I am surprised by the blessing in it. My heart rejoices that God knows the heart of a mother that cares about the spiritual well-being of her family.

However, the reading for today offers another blessing. It focuses on being thirsty for God and the author writes that this does not happen to those who are spiritually dead. The unsaved person desires God about the same way a corpse wants a drink of water. This spiritual thirst is for those who have been made alive, those upon whom God has poured out His Spirit.

Some of my family knows Christ. Some do not. All of them have heard of Him. All have seen Him in creation. The starry sky, roaring sea, and bountiful earth declare Him. All have read of Him in the Bible and learned about Him in either church or Sunday school at some point in their lives, but I cannot see evidence of this thirst to which Isaiah refers. It may be there, but I’m not aware of it.

Of course there are many obstacles to feeling thirst. The author of my devotional says that before God gave him new life in Christ, he “loved the world too dearly to look to Him who made it, and myself too warmly and affectionately to seek Him who would bid me crucify and mortify it.”

That is the rub. The world is lovely. The things of the world (selfish desires, pride, stuff, etc.) can look lovely too, and it is this, not the starry skies, that keep us from thirsting after God. That thirst for bigger, better, and more does it. That is why, for some, God must take away worldly things before a soul begins to thirst after Him.

The other thing that can be an obstacle to trusting God is the threat of loss. The old nature and all that it wants must be denied. Without knowing the blessedness of living with a new nature, this is terribly frightening. Will God rob me of everything I enjoy? Will He send me to the mission field? Will I have to give up all my friends?

The psalmist knew that God gives far more. That is why he wrote, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, ‘Where is your God?’” (Psalm 42:1-3). The remainder of the psalm indicates that he felt that God had abandoned him, hence his strong desire or thirst.

Only someone who has known the taste of clear, cool water longs for it. Only someone who knows the fellowship and power of God misses it when He seems absent. Those who don’t know God have no thirst. Only the Spirit of God can generate it in our barren hearts.

To those who sense this need, Jesus gives an invitation and a promise. He says, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37). He also said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). When someone thirsts for God, Proverbs 10:24 also promises that, “The desire of the righteous shall be granted.”

As I pray today, I must first allow myself to feel that emptiness and thirst for God, not try to fill it with other things. Then, as He satisfies me, I will continue to pray that He pours out His Spirit and gives that same godly thirst to those who are oblivious to their need for Him.