Chance or God?

Isaiah 45:18 - " For this is what the Lord says he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited he says: "I am the Lord, and there is no other.""

Jeremiah 29:11 - " For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Ephesians 1:10 - "to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfilment to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ."

In my earlier years if something "coincidental" happened I would put it down to chance or coincidence. This is a thought process that most non-Christians do as what other explanation could there be for an unexpected occurrence?

Then I found God and soon realised that nothing happens by chance, or rarely anyway. I've learnt that much of what determines the direction of your life is all part of God's plan for you. God opens doors of opportunity for you, but it is down to you to walk through them. God may for example draw your attention to a vacancy for your dream job. However it would then be down to you to write a CV and apply for that job. God won't do it for you. That's where your own initiative and skills come in.

If all things supposedly happened by chance it would to point to there either being no God at all or a God who takes a detached stance from the human race. But you and I know that our God is not like that.

The Bible cites many times God's compassion and his deep involvement in his creation of the world, so much so that he has an eternal plan for it and for you too - and none of it will happen "by chance".

There will be times in your life when a certain event happens and you have absolutely no idea how that fits into God's plan for you. You can however be confident that God is watching over your life and guiding you through it. Trust in him.

Genesis 42:21 - "They said to one another, "Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that's why this distress has come on us"

Ecclesiastes 2:17-19 - "So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless."

When you are faced with a confusing or seemingly random circumstance, you try to work out what has happened and why so that you might be able to understand and sort the situation out. Sometimes there simply is no good reason, it merely happened because you live in a sinful, fallen world where bad things happen to both good and bad people. But often there is a reason, sins of the past may come back to haunt you. God may be disciplining you or trying to teach you something. Ask yourself what God might be trying to teach you and what he wants you to learn from it. At this point you need to ask God to help you move on.

Remember: God is good. He always acts in your best interests even if you can't see it at the time. Put your trust in God, follow the clues and walk through the doors he has opened for you.