COINCIDENCE VS. PROVIDENCE

I’ve noticed that people view daily events and their career paths in two different ways. Some people think that when things happen and everything adds up right, it’s just a coincidence. Other people think and believe that there’s an ultimate Power that directs things to happen and the things that occur in life are willed by providence. Both Christians and non-Christians believe this and it’s a discussion, which on deep theological terms, has even divided the church. I’m going to try to keep this relatively simple because I’ll never win any theological debate, nor do I even care to try.

 So I’m going to start with as generic of a resource I can possibly think of for analyzing these two words, dictionary.com. 

 Coincidence is defined as, “a striking occurrence of two or more events at one time, apparently by mere chance.”

 Providence is defined as,

1.  “The foreseeing care and guidance of God or nature over the creatures of the earth.
2. God, especially when conceived as omnisciently directing the universe and the affairs of humankind with wise benevolence.

 By these definitions, COINCIDENCE just sounds like another word for LUCK; a mere chance happening, where we refer to these chance happenings as both good luck and bad luck.

The definition of PROVIDENCE definitely rings more true that there’s a hand of God concept guiding, directing, and aligning all of the events that take place in the universe. Regardless of your belief system or religion, if you believe in a Higher Being, Ultimate Creator, or God, there is an aspect of providence indicating that there are planned events that will occur in our lives.

 My point in relating this word analysis in terms of your career from a faith point of view is that there are no chance encounters, lucky or unlucky draws, or accidents. I hope that you find comfort in the thought and belief that there is a loving God looking over you and making things line up in a way that will ultimately make things work out for good in the long run. I want you to realize that God is in total control of what is happening in your career and things will happen in His time. 

 Jeremiah 29:11 states, “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.” This verse appears in a letter to the surviving nation of Israel who had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon. Jeremiah wrote this letter in a very dark time and to a people who were in a dark and hopeless place. The nation of Israel had been exiled and disbursed and it would be 70 years before any of the remaining exiles would return to Jerusalem. I don’t think this is a case where the Israelites were just “unlucky” nor did this happen by coincidence. As unfortunate as it was, these events were “omnisciently directed” through God’s guidance.

 My goal isn’t to dwell on the negative here, but to help put this into perspective in terms of your career circumstances. When thinking of this whole story and the entire 29^th chapter of Jeremiah, this passage represents more than just job loss and career change; this passage is about life change and world view change. It’s about everything that a nation and culture had known and suddenly being gone. Your job loss doesn’t begin to compare to the misery that the Exiles felt. The comfort felt in verse 11 is that even in the midst of the horrible events that a nation had experienced, God is providing a sense of hope and a promise of restoration, in a place where He is in total control.

 I realize that the book of Jeremiah and the story of the prophet’s life, doesn’t offer much hope, but this one verse does. Knowing that the people of Jerusalem were living in dark and lonely days, God sent a message of hope and comfort to His people through Jeremiah. Jeremiah had been sharing words of doom and destruction, but here, he offers hope to God’s people.

What I hope that you can gain from this is that it’s not just by some stroke of luck or un-luck that you find yourself looking for a new job or considering a career change at this point in your life and in a sluggish economy. It’s not just by some random event that you stumbled upon this blog about job search and dealing with its challenges from a Christian perspective. It’s about God putting His plan in place and “omnisciently directing the universe and the affairs of humankind.”

 You see, my idea and goal is to help people move from a place of inactivity in their career or job search to a place of satisfaction and reward in their career. In order for that to happen, events have to happen, people have to meet, information must be shared between the right people, action must take place, and decisions have to be made. The most amazing part of this whole Providential idea is that the same God who stands above over creation, and who spoke the universe into existence, is looking down on you and me, and carefully, strategically ordering such small events to take place so that He can give you hope and a future.

 “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”  Proverbs 16:9