just so happened

Today in the One Year Bible, we read from Ruth 2:1-4:22. Ruth "just happens" to be working in a field that belongs to Boaz, who will later become a very important person in her life.

Did this "just happen"? Was it just coincidence or happenstance? We would say no. That God led her to that field.

Do coincidences happen? Are there things that are just happenstance, and not "intended" by God? I would say YES, there are. Not everything that happens in your life is intended by God. And it's a good thing, because some awful things happen in our lives sometimes. It would be unhealthy to see every thing that happens as being "what God wants" for you. When a little girl is abducted and raped and held captive for years before finally getting free, that wasn't God's plan for her. He didn't intend for that to happen. Bad things happen, just because we do bad things sometimes.

But.

God works everything for our good if we love Him. If you are seeking His will for you, He will work things for your good. He will lead you to the right field to find your Boaz. He will bring you to situations that seem far too coincidental to be simply coincidence.

So do things "just happen"? Yes. But then God happens.

God, thanks for directing our lives, even when bad things happen.