the "there's no such thing as coincidence" coincidence

I ended my last blog post by saying "there's no such thing as coincidence" in the last sentence.  So should I be surprised that yesterday, someone delved back into the archives of the blog to late February 2011 and read three posts including one titled there's no such thing as coincidence.

I don't know what led the person there, but the person read three posts.  One was written after I went on an ice fishing trip.  I was struggling with quitting smoking then.  Tomorrow will be three weeks of not buying cigarettes.  Friday or Saturday will be three weeks cigarette free!  Another of the posts reminded me of some issues I was having with someone at that time last year. With a couple of minor changes I would imagine I could have written that blog post today.  The third was fairly short and just talked about how I don't believe in coincidence.

Things happen all around us, and I don't even come close to pretending to understand things that do happen.  There are things that happen that I never will understand.  I do know that.  But I don't think things just randomly happen anymore.  I've seen too many things happen in my life that just can't be blown off as just this or that.

But too, I think a little discernment has to come into play. I'm still debating about the whole mylife thing.  At any rate, it'd have to wait until Friday when I get paid but I need a little bit more than the coincidence that I just spoke of today.  It's not OK to put God to the test, but it is OK to test the spirits.  I try not to pull the strings on my own marionette these days.  I'm following, not leading.  So if this has something to do with my future, I can't mess it up by not following up on it right away.  I'm a firm believer that if God is directing my path, if I'm following Jesus, then I wouldn't expect to have to do so blindly.  What I've learned is that signs from the Evil One are much more flashy than signs from Heaven.  Those signs seemd to be subtle.  A quiet nudge this way or that, or something that if you're not paying attention to, you'd miss.

Just because they're subtle, though, doesn't mean they have real force behind them.  I've experienced, and have read numerous stories of others experiencing a quiet determination that they needed to do this or that thing, and that feeling wouldn't go away or quit, despite how you argue with that feeling.  Often, it's something you normally would not do or wouldn't want to do and you wind up in a discussion that if you're smart, ultimately, you surrender your will to.

I had a little bit of a talk with God last night about some things.  And in the end, as I always do, whether or not I understand, I always tell the Lord "not what I want, but what You want for me".  There are days where I just want to throw in the towel (so to speak) and do something different but I've seen the results of that.  It ain't pretty.  It's a whole lot better to go the Lord's way.  Look at what happened to Jonah when he tried to run from God.

And coincidence?  Nope.  But remember, too, that if you accept there is God, then you have to accept that you have an enemy in Satan and he's powerful.  He's got lots of tricks, and he's every bit as real as our Almighty Heavenly Father.  Thankfully, I'm gettin' a little better at figuring out where things that come my way come from.  The big easy way to figure it out is that God doesn't change and He will never ask you to do something that's against His Holy Word.