Before I became a Christian, I believed in fate, karma, chance, luck, destiny. It was meant to be, this was happening to me because of something I did, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, I’m so lucky/unlucky, it was in the cards, a strange twist of fate. These are all ways we rationalize our circumstances, the results of choices we make, the events that make up our lives.
One of my first revelations as a new Christian happened when my dog became trapped under the chain link fence she was trying to dig under. A piece of the fence was piercing her neck and she was crying in pain. I was on crutches, recovering from surgery and unable to help her. I was on the phone with my son when it happened, my son who lived just a few minutes away from the house I had just moved into. My sons had left some tools at my house after installing the fence for me the week before, so the tool we needed to cut the dog loose from the fence was there. We were able to get her to the vet and treated right away.
What if I had chosen a different house, farther away from my son? What if they hadn’t left the tools there? What if…? A year prior to this I would have called it serendipity. Now I saw it as God’s providence. He has the sovereignty over the events in our lives; He puts people, things, circumstances in place. It is not chance, not luck, not fate… but the divine power of God that is always governing our lives.
for you alone, LORD,
make me dwell in safety. –Psalm 4: 8```
**Questions:**
1. Do you believe in karma for people who have wronged you…. that what goes around comes around? Or do you trust God to take care of it?
2. Are you where you are now because of fate, the choices you’ve made, or because of the plans God has for you?
