Coincidence Or Providence? Series

entire world of gambling could be eliminated in one day, for enough

of these coincidence would destroy gambling. Christians could own

Las Vegas in a week if God worked providentially in gambling. God

does not do so, however, for it is not His plan to prevent men having

a free choice to be foolish. Man is free to choose to gamble, and God

will not interfere with that choice.

The point is, gambling is a world of coincidence, and not a world

of providence. This is not to say, God never works providentially in

this realm, but in general it is a world system guided by the laws of

chance, and is not a God guided system. If it was, and all

coincidence was of God, then the Christian would have an obligation

to both gamble and promote it, as a way of achieving God's purpose

in history. Coincidence can be good, evil, or indifferent. Providence

is always good, for it is for the fulfilling of God's purpose.

Coincidence can be very negative. Two cars meet at the same time

at the intersection, and life is taken. Millions of coincidences happen

in which wrong timing leads to evil and death.

In Esther we see Haman being the victim of God's judgment

through His good providence to Mordecai. In other words, for

Mordecai to be spared, and all the Jews to be saved, the enemies of

the Jews had to be destroyed. So there can be a negative side to

providence as well. Haman was hung because of the providential

guidance of God in protecting Mordecai. If you can show that

tragedy to someone is the key to the survival of someone else in

God's will, you can see providence is good, even in negative results.

Most accidents, however, do not fall into this category, but are in the

category of coincidence which is determined by chance, and not by

God.

God still works in all things for good, and can bring values out of

life's negatives, but the negative is not necessarily a part of His plan.

If I chose to be a fool, and gamble away a thousand dollars, my loss

and depression may lead me to change my life in a very positive way.

This does not mean that God's plan was for me to be a fool and

gamble. It just means that His providence never ceases to seek ways

of bringing good out of evil. The evil, however, is not part of His

plan.

The entire issue of prayer is based on the distinction between

coincidence and providence. If all that happens in life is God's plan,

then, of course, prayer is meaningless, and we just as well sing,

whatever will be will be, and forget it. If, however, we live in a

world where there is a combination of natural law, and wills that

determine what happens, then prayer makes sense. What we are

doing in prayer is asking that God exercise His will, and guide

events to accomplish His purpose. Prayer is saying to God, "I know

you can make a difference in the events of life, and I want to

cooperate in seeing those differences made that fulfill your will for

me." Why pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," if it

will be done regardless? The point is, it won't be done unless we