Heaven’s Coincidences

Are there such things as honest-to-goodness coincidences? You bet there are. 

And are they planned by God? Of course they are. Oh, okay now, wait a minute. Can the actually two go together? Well, hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I say, “Yeah, of course they can!” 

You’ve had it happen; I know I have. It’s been years since you met up with a certain friend, and all of a sudden, in the span of a day or two, you run into each other at least two or three times. Or, an unexpected bill arrives in the mail, and you worry and wonder how you’ll pay for it. And what do you know, the next day, your health plan refunds you the exact amount you need. I mean, don’t you love coincidences?! They’re wonderfully haphazard; fluky accidents that result in amazing outcomes. So yes, they are true coincidences, but they’re also planned by God. And let me show you. 

Look at Acts 17:17; it says, “[Paul] reasoned…in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.” Now, the Bible is describing a coincidence, right there. A happenstance. A quirky co-joining of circumstances. Like, some of those window-shoppers who just happened to be meandering through the marketplace on the day Paul was preaching. What of it? They ended up becoming believers. Yet the coincidence of that day’s leisurely stroll – I mean, you gotta imagine people examining cantaloupe, chatting with neighbors – all of this may have looked like a coincidence; they just happen to be there – but it wasn’t. Because Ephesians tells us that believers have been chosen “before the creation of the world.” 

The trick? Well, it’s no trick at all. In Matthew 19 it says that “with God all things are possible.” Even bona fide coincidences. Frankly, it was a coincidence that I went to the beach the day. That I dove in the water that broke my neck. I had not planned to go. Earlier that morning I was to have attended my niece’s birthday party, but decided to pass. And so then I made a tennis date in the afternoon, but that was canceled. And so when my sister Kathy forgot her money, she drove back to our house to pick up her wallet. And when she saw me sitting there in the backyard with nothing to do on a warm afternoon, she, out of the blue, asked if I wanted to join her at the beach. So on a whim, I ran into the house, grabbed my suit and towel, and hopped into her car. I went to the beach, dove into shallow water, broke my neck, and the rest is history. It was a strange series of coincidences, but as I was to learn, God arranges for natural events to occur at specific times to further his ends. In other words, he plans coincidences. Discovering how or to what extent will be one fascinating feature of heaven I am sure. But in the meantime… 

It is no mistake that your car broke down and that kindly stranger helped you. It is no accident that the same Amazon truck driver keeps showing up at your front door. The people you meet, the people you live near, the folks who sit in the pew six feet in front of you are there by divine appointment. Why? So that you might fulfill God’s purpose and make Jesus real to everyone around you. I know it’s why God permitted the crazy circumstances that led up to my diving accident. To this day, more than 50 years later, I’m still making Jesus real to people around me. And so, if you’d like to learn more about the mysterious way of God with coincidences, then go to joniradio.org today and ask for “God’s Hand in Our Hardship.” Again, that’s joniradio.org, and have fun making Christ real today in every “coincidence.” 

© Joni and Friends