Just a Coincidence; Probably Not
Through the years I’m sure you, as well as I, have heard many times “what a coincidence” and you most likely have even said it.
Coincidence is defined as, “a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent casual connection.”
There are many things that happen that really have no significance spiritually speaking. Coincidence can be real, like wearing the same shirt as someone you run into, reading the same book, watching the same movie, etcetera...
Coincidence is translated from the Greek word, Synkyrian. It’s a combination of two words — syn and kurios. Syn meaning, “together with” and kurious meaning, “supreme in authority.”
I want to share a couple of the “coincidences” in my life.
Sitting in a restaurant with my family I began to feel the Holy Spirt speak to me about a young man seated a little ways away from us with his family. As I talked myself in to being obedient I approached their table to share with this family, that I didn’t know from Adam, what the Lord was impressing upon me. As I shared, the family began to tear up and exclaim to the young man that what the Lord was speaking through me was his direction and it had now been confirmed. That was the topic of discussion at their table for the evening and obviously unknown to me.
As this type of direction from God usually comes with some discomfort to me, when I am obedient, I soon realize what type of coincidence it really is.
“Syn kurious”
Another that stands out in my mind often is an evening service I was not planning to go to. I had worked a long day and was tired. You know all the things we can come up with to not go to church. Don’t play clueless.
My mom had called me to ride with her to church that day. I gave my excuses and we hung up. A few minutes later she called me back, and again asked if I would go with her. Eventually, I decided I better go.
Everything was normal during church service and I was glad I went. On the way home we rounded a curve and saw a car in the ditch, dust still in the air and a badly mangled car. The guy driving was alone, highly intoxicated, and stuck in the car with compound fractured leg, along with all sorts of other injuries. I was able to pry the passenger door open and get enough relief between his leg and the dash to drag him out of the car that was smoking profusely as if it could engulf in flames at any moment.
While waiting on emergency assistance I was able to pray with him, comfort him, and get to know who he was. He was not a Christian and had been a severe alcoholic for most of his life. This “coincidence” changed his life. I started visiting him at his home during his recovery and introduced him to a pastor from a church that was only blocks from his house. He accepted Jesus as his savior and as soon as he was able to get out of the house, his entire family began attending that church.
I would see him periodically through the years and he would always hug me and thank me for being there for him.
“Syn Kurious”
These type of meetings, be them small or large in our eyes, always have a big impact for those involved. Look at this passage in Luke:
“Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he encountered robbers, who stripped him of his clothes [and belongings], beat him, and went their way [unconcerned], leaving him half dead. Now by coincidence a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite also came down to the place and saw him, and passed by on the other side [of the road]. But a Samaritan (foreigner), who was traveling, came upon him; and when he saw him, he was deeply moved with compassion [for him], and went to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them [to sooth and disinfect the injuries]; and he put him on his own pack-animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.” LUKE 10:30-34 (AMP)
The man that was attacked represents all humanity. The robbers correspond to sin and the forces of evil, the devil and his dominion. We do not have enough strength to combat these forces, and if we are left to ourselves, we will die.
The priest and the Levite represent the laws and sacrifices of the old covenant. They can’t help us. The Good Samaritan is the only one who can help. The wine and the oil correspond, roughly, to the blood Jesus shed for us and the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. That is what heals us. The inn could then represent the church, where God puts his people to be spiritually nurtured until he returns for them. Jesus pays for this ongoing need in our life as well.
So, Jesus is saying it wasn’t just happenstance, it was a bringing together with supreme authority!
For us to be a walking testimony!
As we acknowledge these circumstances, a good biblical definition for this would be, “what comes together by God’s perfect connection of circumstances.” In other words, A God meeting, not just a good meeting.
Here are a few more scripture examples. I encourage you to read them. I will just very simply and briefly break them down.
In Micah 2, Micah prophesied our Lord would be born in Bethlehem. Joseph, a descendent of David at the precise time of the birth of Jesus, had to be there to be taxed — A God connected coincidence.
In Genesis 37:12-36, Joseph was sold by his brothers. He Took food to his brothers at the exact time these merchants were passing through. Ultimately he became second in command to Pharaoh and saved his own people from starvation — A God connected coincidence.
Acts 8:26-40 tells the story of Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. The eunuch traveled to Jerusalem to worship God. Because of who he was and Jewish rules, he couldn’t enter the temple. He wanted to learn more of God so he purchased an Old Testament scroll to read. Guess who walked by — Phillip the evangelist.
Phillip came near and simply asked the eunuch if he understood what he was reading, ultimately leading him to Christianity. Oh yeah, and coincidentally the scroll happened to be Isaiah which tells that Eunuchs can also find salvation — A God connected coincidence.
A little excerpt from a book I read:
On the front porch of his little country store in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln and Berry, his partner, stood. Business was all gone, and Berry asked, “How much longer can we keep this going?” Lincoln answered, “It looks as if our business has just about winked out.” Then he continued, “You know, I wouldn’t mind so much if I could just do what I want to do. I want to study law. I wouldn’t mind so much if we could sell everything we’ve got and pay all our bills and have just enough left over to buy one book—Blackstone’s Commentary on English Law, but I guess I can’t.”
A strange-looking wagon was coming up the road. The driver angled it up close to the store porch, then looked at Lincoln and said, “I’m trying to move my family out west, and I’m out of money. I’ve got a good barrel here that I could sell for fifty cents.” Abraham Lincoln’s eyes went along the wagon and came to the wife looking at him pleadingly, face thin and emaciated. Lincoln ran his hand into his pocket and took out, according to him, “the last fifty cents I had” and said, “I reckon I could use a good barrel.” All day long the barrel sat on the porch of that store. Berry kept chiding Lincoln about it. Late in the evening Lincoln walked out and looked down into the barrel. He saw something in the bottom of it, papers that he hadn’t noticed before. His long arms went down into the barrel and, as he fumbled around, he hit something solid. He pulled out a book and stood petrified: it was Blackstone’s Commentary on English Law.
Lincoln later wrote, “I stood there holding the book and looking up toward the heavens. There came a deep impression on me that God had something for me to do and He was showing me now that I had to get ready for it. Why this miracle otherwise?”
A few of Lincoln’s accomplishments:
Became president
Only president to hold a patent
Issued the emancipation proclamation which led to abolishing slavery
Established the banking system
And much more from a broke country store owner that believed in God, listened to God and knew there was more to a coincidence. He called it what it was; a miracle.
We have to be looking for and appreciating these circumstances of coincidence.
So, next time you encounter a coincidence, stop, think, and pray. That coincidence could very well be an encounter with the Supreme Authority.