Good evening faithful readers. Congratulations I believe you're on blog number 21. You're all such troopers for hanging in there this long with me. Go ahead and take a restroom break come back and settle in with your cup of coffee because this is likely to be a long one. Don't say I didn't give you fair warning. Lol 
Tonight Im discussing whether or not there are such things as accidcents, coincidences or luck.
So first let's see how the dictionary defines each of those words.
Luck- success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than one's own actions.
Accident- 1.an unfortunate incident that happened unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically result in damage or injury.
2. An event that happens by chance or that is without deliberate cause
Coincidence-1. A remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent casual connections
2. Correspondence in nature or in time of occurrence.
Got questions.org had this to say regarding coincidence,
" the word coincidence is translated from the Greek word synkyrian, which is a combination of two words: sun and kurios. Sun means ' together with', and kurios means ' Supreme in authority.' So a biblical definition of coincidence would be ' what occurs together by God's providential arrangement of circumstances."
Now don't laugh at me but I had to look up the word providential. And what it means is " occurring at a favorable time, oportune."
So in my own words, a coincidence is an opportune occurrence carefully arranged by God.
Now, a word that gets used interchangeably with coincidence is chance. Most of us have heard sayings like, " it was a chance encounter" or " it happened by chance". Lets take a closer look at the word chance, shall we?
I love the second definition to this word. ( and I will touch on why in a minute)
Chance-1. A possibility of something happening
2. The occurrence and development of events in the absence of any obvious design
" absence of obvious design"
Take a look around at nature. It is so complex that no matter how much we study it we will never have a full understanding. Fun fact, btw, if spiders did not exist insects would completely cover the Earth. Isn't that something? Takeaway just one of God's little creatures and it has that kind of effect. Bees as well not only help flowers grow but also fruits and vegetables and other plant life. (I learned this from "Bee movie") So much of nature is dependent on other aspects of nature.
Think about how intricate the human nervous system is. Or how complex our brains are.
It certainly seems like there was some design going on to me, how about y'all?
We ourselves were designed as well. "Knit together." God chose every aspect of our being. And as psalm 139:16 tells us, He also planned the events of our lives.
" all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." psalm 139:16
("ALL the days" I might note. Which means past, present and future)
So let's hop back to the definition for coincidence.
" a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent casual connection"
Hmmm....
" without apparent casual connection"
Sounds very similar to " the absence of any obvious design" don't ya think?
The connections may not always be apparent to us, but God knows just what He is doing. He has every second covered, every detail.
Proverbs 16:9 tells us " a man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps."
We have free will so that we may choose our actions, " plan our ways". But ultimately God is in control. He " directs our steps".
You can be sure that under His direction, there is design, there is conneaction, not just in everything we do, but also in what we experience think, and say. And what is really awesome about it is that whether those things are good bad or ugly, He uses it all for our good. (See Romans 8:28. Quickly becoming one of my favorites) That's how in control He is!
Jump back to the definition for accident.
"1. Unfortunate incident that happened unexpectedly and unintentional, typically resulting in damage or injury. 2. Event that happened by chance where that is without a deliberate cause"
Huh...look at that. " without a deliberate cause." sounds Alot like " the absence of any obvious design" and " without apparent casual connection"
We know now that God is a planner. "Our days are ordained". We are "knit together". And God is also very much in control, though we have free will. Therefore there are no "accidents".
For all of you reading this who are thinking "well, I am an accident", NO you are not. You are God's beautiful Creation and masterpiece. He chose you to be exactly as you are. He will mold you, shape you, and refine your character. We are all clay on The Potter's Wheel. To not continue any longer to reject yourself for you are rejecting a creation of God. ( this is a Blog all in itself but I felt it entirely necessary to say)
Back to it.
Let's talk about luck.
Remember the definition? Well I will remind you. Aren't I so helpful?
" success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than one's own actions"
There is the word chance again did you notice that?
Really look at the definition for the word luck. Just doesn't seem fair does it? " brought by chance rather than one's own actions". We all have seen someone who appears "lucky". They get all the good breaks. Find a twenty in the parking lot. Get the cute guy/girl without trying. You get the idea. But sometimes the "lucky" person is kinda a jerk. Sometimes the person seeming to "get it all" gets it without earning it. And on the other side, there is the poor sap who can't catch a break. The kid who can't fit in no matter what they do. The person who catches every red light when they are already running late. The one who never gets the guy/girl despite being a wonderful person. They're just "unlucky." They try their best but bad luck follows them like its their own personal rain cloud.
Sound familiar?
Unfortunately things always what we call "fair". But our God is a just God. He is our vindicator. He tells us the last shall become first and the first shall become last. (Matthew 20:16). He promises a " crown of beauty instead of Ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a Garment of Praise instead of a spirit of despair." (isaiah 61:3)
Whether we are at the bottom or the top, the hill or the valley, God has placed us there. I've learned recently that God will teach us things while we're in the valley that we will need, that will prepare us for when we're on the hill. We may not always see or understand what He is doing, especially when things are difficult. But we can find peace in knowing that He is still in control. Sometimes we just have to let go and let God.
" God has a reason for allowing things to happen. We may never understand his wisdom, but we simply have to trust his will." psalm 37:5
( I'm tired and don't want to fight the cursor Let's Pretend all those H's are capital)
Isaiah 55:8-9 sums it up nicely
" my thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,' says the Lord. ' and my ways are far beyond anything you can imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.' "
He is beyond our understanding. And that's a good thing. Because if we knew it all we'd decide we didn't need Him.
Proverbs 3:5-6 ties in with this
" trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."
I don't know about you, but when I try to understand Everything sometimes it makes my head feel like its going to explode. We don't have to know everything or figure everything out we just have to trust Him.
In conclusion, there are no coincidences, at least not as the word is commonly defined. There is neither chance. God has our lives planned. He is not surprised when something goes wrong or changes. He's got it all in His capable hands.
As there is no chance, there is no luck, being that it is defined as being "brought by chance". "Good luck" can be more acuratly termed "favor" and "bad luck" more acuratly termed "testing". Despite which one we have we can praise Him. 1st thesalonians reminds us to " in all things give thanks, for this is the will of God."
Finally, there are no accidents. We have a God who is a brilliant creator. He is also a meticulous planner. " all our days have been written in his book before one of them came to be." Nothing surprises Him. He knows our past, present and future down to the tiniest detail.
Aren't you glad? Doesn't it ease your mind and spirit knowing God's got this? "He's on the throne stop holding on and just be held" (its a song)
"Just be held" Amen.
Tonight Im discussing whether or not there are such things as accidcents, coincidences or luck.
So first let's see how the dictionary defines each of those words.
Luck- success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than one's own actions.
Accident- 1.an unfortunate incident that happened unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically result in damage or injury.
2. An event that happens by chance or that is without deliberate cause
Coincidence-1. A remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent casual connections
2. Correspondence in nature or in time of occurrence.
Got questions.org had this to say regarding coincidence,
" the word coincidence is translated from the Greek word synkyrian, which is a combination of two words: sun and kurios. Sun means ' together with', and kurios means ' Supreme in authority.' So a biblical definition of coincidence would be ' what occurs together by God's providential arrangement of circumstances."
Now don't laugh at me but I had to look up the word providential. And what it means is " occurring at a favorable time, oportune."
So in my own words, a coincidence is an opportune occurrence carefully arranged by God.
Now, a word that gets used interchangeably with coincidence is chance. Most of us have heard sayings like, " it was a chance encounter" or " it happened by chance". Lets take a closer look at the word chance, shall we?
I love the second definition to this word. ( and I will touch on why in a minute)
Chance-1. A possibility of something happening
2. The occurrence and development of events in the absence of any obvious design
" absence of obvious design"
Take a look around at nature. It is so complex that no matter how much we study it we will never have a full understanding. Fun fact, btw, if spiders did not exist insects would completely cover the Earth. Isn't that something? Takeaway just one of God's little creatures and it has that kind of effect. Bees as well not only help flowers grow but also fruits and vegetables and other plant life. (I learned this from "Bee movie") So much of nature is dependent on other aspects of nature.
Think about how intricate the human nervous system is. Or how complex our brains are.
It certainly seems like there was some design going on to me, how about y'all?
We ourselves were designed as well. "Knit together." God chose every aspect of our being. And as psalm 139:16 tells us, He also planned the events of our lives.
" all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." psalm 139:16
("ALL the days" I might note. Which means past, present and future)
So let's hop back to the definition for coincidence.
" a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent casual connection"
Hmmm....
" without apparent casual connection"
Sounds very similar to " the absence of any obvious design" don't ya think?
The connections may not always be apparent to us, but God knows just what He is doing. He has every second covered, every detail.
Proverbs 16:9 tells us " a man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps."
We have free will so that we may choose our actions, " plan our ways". But ultimately God is in control. He " directs our steps".
You can be sure that under His direction, there is design, there is conneaction, not just in everything we do, but also in what we experience think, and say. And what is really awesome about it is that whether those things are good bad or ugly, He uses it all for our good. (See Romans 8:28. Quickly becoming one of my favorites) That's how in control He is!
Jump back to the definition for accident.
"1. Unfortunate incident that happened unexpectedly and unintentional, typically resulting in damage or injury. 2. Event that happened by chance where that is without a deliberate cause"
Huh...look at that. " without a deliberate cause." sounds Alot like " the absence of any obvious design" and " without apparent casual connection"
We know now that God is a planner. "Our days are ordained". We are "knit together". And God is also very much in control, though we have free will. Therefore there are no "accidents".
For all of you reading this who are thinking "well, I am an accident", NO you are not. You are God's beautiful Creation and masterpiece. He chose you to be exactly as you are. He will mold you, shape you, and refine your character. We are all clay on The Potter's Wheel. To not continue any longer to reject yourself for you are rejecting a creation of God. ( this is a Blog all in itself but I felt it entirely necessary to say)
Back to it.
Let's talk about luck.
Remember the definition? Well I will remind you. Aren't I so helpful?
" success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than one's own actions"
There is the word chance again did you notice that?
Really look at the definition for the word luck. Just doesn't seem fair does it? " brought by chance rather than one's own actions". We all have seen someone who appears "lucky". They get all the good breaks. Find a twenty in the parking lot. Get the cute guy/girl without trying. You get the idea. But sometimes the "lucky" person is kinda a jerk. Sometimes the person seeming to "get it all" gets it without earning it. And on the other side, there is the poor sap who can't catch a break. The kid who can't fit in no matter what they do. The person who catches every red light when they are already running late. The one who never gets the guy/girl despite being a wonderful person. They're just "unlucky." They try their best but bad luck follows them like its their own personal rain cloud.
Sound familiar?
Unfortunately things always what we call "fair". But our God is a just God. He is our vindicator. He tells us the last shall become first and the first shall become last. (Matthew 20:16). He promises a " crown of beauty instead of Ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a Garment of Praise instead of a spirit of despair." (isaiah 61:3)
Whether we are at the bottom or the top, the hill or the valley, God has placed us there. I've learned recently that God will teach us things while we're in the valley that we will need, that will prepare us for when we're on the hill. We may not always see or understand what He is doing, especially when things are difficult. But we can find peace in knowing that He is still in control. Sometimes we just have to let go and let God.
" God has a reason for allowing things to happen. We may never understand his wisdom, but we simply have to trust his will." psalm 37:5
( I'm tired and don't want to fight the cursor Let's Pretend all those H's are capital)
Isaiah 55:8-9 sums it up nicely
" my thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,' says the Lord. ' and my ways are far beyond anything you can imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.' "
He is beyond our understanding. And that's a good thing. Because if we knew it all we'd decide we didn't need Him.
Proverbs 3:5-6 ties in with this
" trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."
I don't know about you, but when I try to understand Everything sometimes it makes my head feel like its going to explode. We don't have to know everything or figure everything out we just have to trust Him.
In conclusion, there are no coincidences, at least not as the word is commonly defined. There is neither chance. God has our lives planned. He is not surprised when something goes wrong or changes. He's got it all in His capable hands.
As there is no chance, there is no luck, being that it is defined as being "brought by chance". "Good luck" can be more acuratly termed "favor" and "bad luck" more acuratly termed "testing". Despite which one we have we can praise Him. 1st thesalonians reminds us to " in all things give thanks, for this is the will of God."
Finally, there are no accidents. We have a God who is a brilliant creator. He is also a meticulous planner. " all our days have been written in his book before one of them came to be." Nothing surprises Him. He knows our past, present and future down to the tiniest detail.
Aren't you glad? Doesn't it ease your mind and spirit knowing God's got this? "He's on the throne stop holding on and just be held" (its a song)
"Just be held" Amen.
